I STANDARD 
tjTERATUR[ 5ERIES 




ifta«^C^^«fi^C^S:5Saf^3Ss?'^ari^:SOU^t3i?^'«©i^^ 



Number 4 



February 15, 1896 



THE ALHAMBRA 



BY 



WASHINGTON IRVING 



CONDENSED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS 
WITH INTRODUCTORY AND EXPLANATORY NOTES 



•I 



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TALES OF 

THE ALHAMBRA 



WASHINGTON IRVING 



SELECTED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS. WITH AN 
INTRODUCTION AND EXPLANATORY NOTES 



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SA2^ 



HISTORY OF SPAIN TO THE FALL OF 
GRANADA. 



O 




Almost nothing is known of the early history of the great peninsula 
which forms the southwestern extremity of Europe. The Greeks called it 
Iberia, but they had little real knowledge of the country. To them it 
was the end of the world, the land of the setting sun, and many wonder- 
ful stories and myths were connected with it. One of these myths was 
that Hercules had hollowed out the strait that connects the Mediterranean 
with the Atlantic, and hence the bold, rocky cliflEs that rise on either 
side of the narrow strait were called the Pillars of Hercules. 

Phoenician merchants and traders certainly visited the peninsula in 
early times, and made settlements along the coasts. As the years passed, 
it gradually came more and more under Carthaginian influence, and 



o^*" 



^';> 



COPTBIGHT, 1896, BY 

UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY 



Press of J. J. Little & Co. 
Astor Place, New York 



s;^ 



HISTOEY OF SPAIN TO THE FALL OF 
GRANADA. 




strait oiNi^crGibraltar 

SPAIN f^ " 



Almost nothing is known of the early history of the great peninsula 
which forms the southwestern extremity of Europe. The Greeks called it 
Iberia, but they had little real knowledge of the country. To them it 
was the end of the world, the land of the setting sun, and many wonder- 
ful stories and myths were connected with it. One of these myths was 
that Hercules had hollowed out the strait that connects the Mediterranean 
with the Atlantic, and hence the bold, rocky cliffs that rise on either 
side of the narrow strait were called the Pillars of Hercules. 

Phoenician merchants and traders certainly visited the peninsula in 
early times, and made settlements along the coasts. As the years passed, 
it gradually came more and more under Carthaginian influence, and 



4 THE ROMANS RULE HISPi^NIA. 

about two hundred and thirty-seven years before Christ, a Carthaginian 
army under Hamilcar Barca occupied the southern part of the country, 
some of the tribes submitting quietly, others being conquered. His son 
Hannibal, who had married a Spanish woman, extended the Carthaginian 
power to the Pyrenees Mountains in the north, and, in 218 B.C., led his 
army from this peninsula over the mountains to Italy. 

Their wars with Carthage had first brought the attention of the Eo- 
mansto the peninsula, which they called Hispania, a name since contracted 
by the Spaniards into Espana, and by the English into Spain. While 
Hannibal was still in Italy, the Romans invaded Hispania, defeated the 
Carthaginians, and conquered the southern portion of the peninsula, thus 
cutting off Hannibal's supplies and re6nforcements. After the power of 
Carthage was crushed, the Romans retained their conquests in Hispania, 
and our first accurate knowledge of the country comes from them. They 
found it occupied by many different tribes more civilized than the Gauls, 
and so brave that more than two hundred years passed before the entire 
peninsula was finally subjugated by the Emperor Augustus Caesar. The 
country then became entirely Roman. The natives acquired the Latin 
language and the Latin civilization. For more than four hundred years 
the country remained a part of the Roman Empire, and became famous in 
literature, arts, and science. Trajan the emperor, and Quintilian, Sen- 
eca, and Martial, the most distinguished Latin authors of the silver age, 
were Spaniards. The Castilian Spanish of to-day very closely resembles 
the old Latin language. As a part of the Roman Empire, Spain embraced 
Christianity, and the Spanish bishops were leaders in the Roman Church. 

With the decline of the Western Roman Empire (a.d. 409), Spain 
was overrun by the Vandals and other German tribes, the Spaniards 
offering very little resistance to the invaders. Four or five years later 
the Visigoths (Western Goths) occupied the country, and in time expelled 
the Vandals, and in a.d. 573 established a Visigothic Empire. The 
Visigoths ruled Spain until the death of Roderick, the last Visigothic 
king, A.D. 711. 

Across the Mediterranean, in Northern Africa, lay the Roman province 
of Mauritania, inhabited by a dark-skinned people whom the Romans 
called Mauri, from which our word Moor is derived. The Mauri were 
converted to Christianity with the rest of the Roman Empire. They 
called themselves Berbers. After the rise of Mohammedanism, Mauri- 
tania was overrun and conquered by the Arabs, or Saracens, and the 
Moors all embraced the Mohammedan faith. In a.d. 711, a mixed 
army, made up of Arabs, Moors, Egyptians, and Syrians, under the com- 
mand of Tarik, an Arab, crossed the narrow strait to the Spanish side. 



THE ARABS CONQUER SPAIN. 6 

They called the rock on which they landed Gebel el Tarik (meaning 
Rock of Tarik), which has been shortened into Gibralter, the name it 
bears to-day. The strait has taken its name from the rock. 

The country fell an easy prey. By the year 714 the Arabs had con- 
quered the whole of Spain, which now became a part of the Moslem 
Empire, governed by the Caliphs of Damascus. The ruling Caliph of 
Damascus was overthrown, and all the members of his family poisoned 
except Abdurrahman, who in 767 escaped to Spain on the invitation of 
the Arab governors, and established the Caliphate of Cordova. This 
embraced all of Spain, except Asturias, and was independent of the 
Caliphs of Bagdad. It was governed by Abdurrahman's successor for 
two hundred and fifty years. The Moors during all this time were sub- 
ordinate. The reigning family and all the officers were Arabs. 

The conquest of ^ Spain by the Arabs was at first simply a change of 
rulers, not of population. The masses of the people were not disturbed 
in their property or in their business. They paid taxes which supported 
the Arab rulers and the army of Arabs and Moors. All religions were 
tolerated. The Arabs were an intellectual race, and by association 
acquired the culture and civilization of the people whom they had con- 
quered and with whom they lived. For two hundred and fifty years 
Spain under Arab rulers surpassed every other European nation in 
architecture, literature, science, manufactures, and agriculture. 

The Christian princes had been driven into the mountains of Northern 
Spain. One of these princes established the petty kingdom of Asturias 
in the mountains of the north, seven years after the landing of the Arabs. 
His successors drove the Arabs from Galicia and from Leon, and in the 
tenth century became kings of Leon. Later on, Navarre, Aragon, Castile, 
and Portugal, successively threw off the Arab control. Each became an 
independent kingdom, at first very small, but gradually pushing its 
boundaries southward. In 997, Almansor, the chief minister of the 
Arab ruler, regained most of the lost ground, but it was lost again in a 
great battle in 1002, after which Arab rule never extended north of the 
river Tagus. A few years later the Arab empire in Spain was broken up 
into a number of independent principalities, under Emirs (commanders). 

In 1085 Alfonso VI. of Leon and Castile captured the city of Toledo, 
and was pushing still farther south. The Emir of Seville sought the 
help of the Moors of Northern Africa. Yusuf of Morocco, although then 
eighty years of age, promptly responded, and in 1086 came with his 
Moors to the assistance of the Emir. In October of the same year he 
defeated the combined forces of Castile, Aragon, and Barcelona, but was 
recalled to Africa. He returned four years later. Instead of fighting 



6 THE MOORS IN SPAIN. 

the Christians, however, he tui-ned against the Arab Emirs, and united 
all their possessions in an empire which covered practically the southern 
half of the peninsula. For the first time, the Moorish element in the 
population became dominant. In 1118, Alfonso VII. of Castile captured 
Saragossa, and Alfonso VIII. extended the borders of Castile to the Sierra 
Morena Mountains. In 1146, Abd al mu'min, leader of a new religious 
sect, united the Slavs (or slaves) and the Moors in an insurrection against 
the grandson of Yusuf, and established himself as sovereign. His suc- 
cessor defeated the Christian kings, who were quarrelling among them- 
selves, and recovered some of the lost territory. Under the rule of this 
family, the Arab element disappeared, and from this time the Mohamme- 
dans of Spain were distinctly Moors. 

In 1236 Cordova, the capital, was captured by Castile, and the next 
year the Moorish Empire was again broken up into independent districts 
under Emirs. The most powerful of these, Alhamar, the builder of the 
Alhambra, Emir of Granada, in 1246 put himself under the protection 
of Castile, and paid tribute to that kingdom. All the other Moorish 
districts were, within the next twenty years, conquered by the Christian 
kings of the peninsula. Granada became a place of refuge for those 
Moors who were driven out of the other parts of Spain by the persecution 
of the Christians ; and the Moors in Granada, following the example of 
the Christians, expelled all, except Mohammedans, from their territory. 
As a consequence, the population of Granada became almost entirely 
Moorish. This added greatly to their strength. The mountainous 
character of Granada made it easy to defend, and in this country, with a 
united population, the Moors were enabled to hold their ground for two 
hundred years longer. 

The marriage of Ferdinand, King of Aragon and Navarre, with 
Isabella, Queen of Leon and Castile, united the Christian armies of 
Spain, and in 1481 these monarchs began the conquest of Granada, which 
ended successfully in 1492. 

The Moors rebelled in 1500, and after that time only those who em- 
braced Christianity were permitted to remain in Spain. Though out- 
wardly Christians, the "Moriseos" were secretly Mohammedans. Fi- 
nally, in 1609, they were all expelled from Spain, and that country has 
never recovered from the loss of this large industrial element. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

In the annals of American literature no name is brighter or more 
warmly cherished than that of Washington Irving. He was one of the 
earliest and most distinguished of American writers. He was born in 
New York City in 1783, just at the close of the Revolutionary War, and 
was given the name at that time dearest to American hearts. He was 
educated for the legal profession ; but his tastes were in the direction of 
literature, and as early as 1802 his "Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle " 
appeared in the 3Io7ming Chronicle. 

Irving's first publications of note were his contributions to Salma- 
gundi, a semi-monthly publication in imitation of the Spectator, con- 
ducted by himself, his brother William, and James K. Paulding. His 
sketches of Dutch character in his "Knickerbocker's History of New 
York," which made its appearance in 1809, proved him possessed of 
quaint and genial humor to a high degree. It was everywhere read and 
admired. Walter Scott, "his sides sore from laughing," praised it 
warmly. The " Sketch-Book " was completed in 1830. It was received 
in the United States with universal delight, and with most cordial favor 
in England. It has a peculiar charm for its delicate touch and purity of 
style. It was the first production in the United States of a work of the 
highest literary excellence, and won for Irving a name as one of the chief 
founders of American literature. The "short story," now so popular, 
recognizes him as its first great master. The Royal Society of Literature 
bestowed on him one of the two fifty-guinea gold medals awarded an- 
nually, and the University of Oxford conferred on him the degree of LL.D. 

" Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.," " Bracebridge Hall " (1822), and " Tales of 
a Traveller " (1824) followed. In 1826 he went to Spain and began the 
long and arduous studies which were the foundation of his more impor- 
tant serious works: "The Life and Voyages of Columbus" (1828), 
" Conquest of Granada " (1829), "Voyages of the Companions of Colum- 
bus" (1831), "The Alhambra" (1832), "Legends of the Conquest of 
Spain" (1835), " Mahomet and His Successors " (1850). For nearly three 
months he lived at Granada, in the old Moorish palace, the Alhambra, 
while gathering material for the work which bears that name. 

In 1842 he was appointed United States Minister to Spain. He re- 
turned to New York in 1846, and spent the remainder of his life at his 
residence, Sunnyside, near Tarrytown, on the Hudson, where he died 



8 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

November 28, 1859. His last work was the " Life of George Washing- 
ton "(5 vols., 1855-1859). 

America has produced no writer of higher literary fame than Irving. 
*' Diedrich Knickerbocker," "Sleepy Hollow," " Rip Van Winkle," "Ich- 
abod Crane," have become most familiar names. Sentiment and abun- 
dant humor characterize his writings, and he had the power to seize the 
attention of cultivated readers by his keen observation, his graphic 
touches of description, and his clear and musical style. 

As a man, Irving was — to quote from Thackeray's graceful tribute to 
his character — " in his family gentle, generous, good-humored, affection- 
ate, self-denying ; in society a delightful example of complete gentle- 
manhood ; quite unspoiled by prosperity ; never obsequious to the great, 
or, worse still, to the base and mean, as some public men are forced to 
be ; eager to acknowledge every contemporary's merit ; always kind and 
affable with the young members of his calling ; in his professional bar- 
gains and mercantile dealings delicately honest and grateful. He was, at 
the same time, doubly dear to men of letters, not for his wit and genius 
merely, but as an exemplar of goodness, probity, and a pure life." 



PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA.^ 



To the traveller imbued "" with a feeling for the historical 
and poetical, so inseparably intertwined in the annals^ of 
romantic Spain, the Alhambra is as much an object of devo- 
tion as is the Caaba '^ to all true Moslems. ^ How many legends 
and traditions, true and fabulous; how many songs and bal- 
lads, Arabian and Spanish, of love and war and chivalry,' are 
associated with this Oriental pile! It was the royal abode of 
the Moorish kings, where, surrounded with the splendors and 
refinements of Asiatic luxury, they held dominion over what 
they vaunted ' as a terrestrial ® paradise, and made their last 
stand for empire in Spain. The royal palace forms but a part 
of a fortress, the walls of which, studded with towers, stretch 
irregularly round the whole crest of a hill, a spur of the Sierra 
Nevada, or Snowy Mountains, and overlook the city; exter- 
nally it is a rude congregation of towers and battlements, with 
no regularity of plan nor grace of architecture,^ and giving 
little promise of the grace and beauty which prevail within. 

In the time of the Moors the fortress was capable of con- 
taining within its outward precincts an army of forty thousand 
men, and served occasionally as a stronghold of the sover- 
eigns against their rebellious subjects. After the kingdom had 
passed into the hands of the Christians, the Alhambra con- 

» (ahl-hahm'brah.) Note these leading as niwo (nee'-nyo) ; e final forms a separate 

peculiarities of pronunciation of Spanish syllable, as Calle (kahl-lay). 
names : a, long like a in /ar, short like a ^ filled. 3 histories. 

in fast ; e, long like a in ale, short like e in * (kah-ah'bah), the temple at Mecca. 
met ; i long like e in me, short like i in pin ; ^ followers of Mohammed. 
as in English; ztVikeoo ; g before e and i, 'deeds of knights who fought for the 

and j and x before every vowel, like a gut- weak and the oppressed. "> boasted, 
tural h ; n combines the sounds of n and y, ^ earthly. * art or science of building. 



10 PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

tinned to be a royal demesne/ and was occasionally inhabited 
by the Oastilian monarchs. The emperor Charles V. com- 
menced a sumptuous palace within its walls, but was deterred ^ 
from completing it by repeated shocks of earthquakes. The 
last royal residents were Philip V. and his beautiful queen, 
Elizabetta of Parma, early in the eighteenth century. Great 
preparations were made for their reception. The palace and 
gardens were placed in a state of repair, and a new suite ^ of 
apartments erected, and decorated by artists brought from 
Italy. The sojourn of the sovereigns was transient,* and after 
their departure the palace once more became desolate. Still 
the place was maintained with some military state. The gov- 
ernor held it immediately from the crown; its jurisdiction 
extended down into the suburbs of the city, and was inde- 
pendent of the captain-general of Granada. 

The desertion of the court, however, was a fatal blow to the 
Alhambra. Its beautiful halls became desolate, and some of 
them fell to ruin; the gardens were destroyed, and the foun- 
tains ceased to play. By degrees the dwellings became filled 
with a loose and lawless population — contrabandistas,^ who 
availed themselves of its independent jurisdiction ® to carry on 
a wide and daring course of smuggling ; and thieves and 
rogues of all sorts, who made this their place of refuge whence 
they might depredate'' upon Granada and its vicinity. The 
strong arm of government at length interfered; the whole 
community was thoroughly sifted; none were suffered to 
remain but such as were of honest character, and had legiti- 
mate right to a residence; the greater part of the houses were 
demolished,® and a mere hamlet left, with the parochial® 
church and the Franciscan convent. During the recent 
troubles in Spain, when Granada was in the hands of the 
French, the Alhambra was garrisoned by their troops, and the 

1 possession. * brief ; lasting only a short time. '' prey. 

3 hindered. s smugglers. s destroyed. 

' connected set or series. ® legal authority. » parish. 



PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 11 

palace was occasionally inhabited by the French commander. 
AVith that enlightened taste which has ever distinguished the 
French nation in their conquests, this monument of Moorish 
elegance and grandeur was rescued from the absolute ruin and 
desolation that were overwhelming it. The roofs were repaired^ 
the saloons and galleries protected from the weather, the gar- 
dens cultivated, the watercourses restored, the fountains once 
more made to throw up their sparkling showers; and Spain 
may thank her invaders for having preserved to her the most 
beautiful and interesting of her historical monuments. 

On the departure of the French they blew up several towers 
of the outer wall, and left the fortifications scarcely tenable.^ 
Since that time the military importance of the post is at an 
end. The garrison is a handful of invalid soldiers, whose 
principal duty is to guard some of the outer towers, which 
serve occasionally as a prison of state; and the governor, 
abandoning the lofty hill of the Alhambra, resides in the 
centre of Granada, for the more convenient despatch of his 
official duties. 

Our first object, of course, on the morning after our arrival, 
was a visit to this time-honored edifice. 

Leaving our posada,* and traversing the renowned square of 
the Vivarrambla, once the scene of Moorish jousts ^ and tour- 
naments, ■* now a crowded market-place, we proceeded along the 
Zacatin, the main street of what, in the time of the Moors, 
was the Great Bazaar, and where small shops and narrow alleys 
still retain the Oriental character. Crossing an open place in 
front of the palace of the captain-general, we ascended a con- 
fined and winding street, the name of which reminded us of 
the chivalric days of Granada. It is called the Calle, or street, 
of the Gomeres, from a Moorish family famous in chronicle ^ 
and song. This street led up to the Puerta de las Granadas, 

* capable of 'being held. 2 jnn. ^ mock fight or military sport. 

3 mock encouuters 011 horseback as a ^ record, history, 
trial of skill. 



12 PALACE OF THE ALHAMBEA. 

a massive gateway of Grecian architecture, built by Charles 
v., forming the entrance to the domains of the Alhambra. 

At the gate were two or three ragged, superannuated sol- 
diers, dozing on a stone bench, while a tall, meagre ' varlet,'^ 
whose rusty-brown cloak was evidently intended to conceal the 
ragged state of his nether garments, was lounging in the sun- 
shine and gossiping with an ancient sentinel on duty. He 
joined us as we entered the gate, and offered his services to 
show us the fortress. 

I have a traveller's dislike to officious ciceroni,® and did not 
altogether like the garb of the applicant. 

'^ You are well acquainted with the place, I presume ? " 

" Nobody better; in fact, sir, I am a son of the Alhambra! " 

The common Spaniards have certainly a most poetical way of 
expressing themselves. " A son of the Alhambra ! " The appel- 
lation * caught me at once ; the very tattered garb of my new 
acquaintance assumed a dignity in my eyes. It was emblem- 
atic ^ of the fortunes of the place, and befitted the progeny ° 
of a ruin. 

I put some further questions to him, and found that his 
title was legitimate. '' His family had lived in the fortress 
from generation to generation ever since the time of the con- 
quest. His name was Mateo Ximenes. "Then, perhaps," 
said I, "you may be a descendant from the great Cardinal 
Ximenes?" "God knows, senor! It maybe so. AYe are 
the oldest family in the Alhambra." There is not any Span- 
iard, however poor, but has some claim to high pedigree.* 
The first title of this ragged worthy, however, had completely 
captivated' me, so I gladly accepted the services of the "son 
of the Alhambra." 

We now found ourselves in a deep, narrow ravine, filled with 
beautiful groves, with a steep avenue and various footpaths 

J thin, lean. 2 low fellow. ^ offspring ; descendants. 

3 (chee-cha-ro'nee) guides (Italian). ' in accordance with law. 

* name. ^ line of ancestors ; descent. 

6 suggestive by similarity. * pleased ; charmed. 



PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 13 

winding through it, bordered with stone seats, and ornamented 
with fountains. To our left, we beheld the towers of the 
Alhambra beetling' above us; to our right, on the opposite 
side of the ravine, we were equally dominated ^ by rival towers 
on a rocky eminence. These, we were told, were the Torres 
Vermejos, or vermilion towers, so called from their ruddy hue. 
No one knows their origin. Ascending the steep and shady 
avenue, we arrived at the foot of a huge square Moorish tower, 
forming a kind of barbican,^ through which passed the main 
entrance to the fortress. Within the barbican was another 
group of veteran invalids, one mounting guard at the portal, 
while the rest, wrapped in their tattered cloaks, slept on the 
stone benches. This portal is called the Gate of Justice, from 
the tribunal held within its porch during the Moslem domina- 
tion, for the immediate trial of petty causes — a custom com- 
mon to the Oriental nations, and occasionally alluded to in the 
sacred Scriptures. " Judges and officers shalt thou make thee 
in all thy gates, and they shall judge the people with just 
judgment." 

The great vestibule, or porch, of the gate is formed by an 
immense Arabian arch, of the horseshoe form, which springs to 
half the height of the tower. On the keystone of this arch is 
engraven a gigantic hand. Within the vestibule, on the key- 
stone of the portal, is sculptured in like manner a gigantic 
key. Those who pretend to some knowledge of Mohammedan 
symbols, affirm that the hand is the emblem of doctrine; the 
five fingers designating the five principal commandments of 
the creed of Is^am — fasting, pilgrimage, alms-giving, ablution,* 
and war against infidels. The key, say they, is the emblem of 
the faith or of power; the key of Daoud or David, transmitted ° 
to the prophet. " And the key of the house of David will I lay 
upon his shoulder; so he shall open and none shall shut, and 
he shall shut and none shall open" (Isaiah xxii. 22). The 

* jutting out. 2 seemingly controlled or threatened. < washing. 

3 gateway. * handed down. 



14 PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

key, we are told, was emblazoned ' on the standard of the 
Moslems in opposition to the Christian emblem of the cross, 
when they subdued Spain, or Andalusia. It betokened the 
conquering power invested^ in the prophet. ''He that hath 
the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth; and 
shutteth and no man openeth" (Eev. iii. 7). 

A different explanation of these emblems, however, was 
given by the legitimate son of the Alhambra, and one more in 
unison ^ with the notions of the common people, who attach 
something of mystery and magic to every thing Moorish, and 
have all kind of superstitions connected with this old Moslem 
fortress. According to Mateo, it was a tradition handed down 
from the oldest inhabitants, and which he had from his father 
and grandfather, that the hand and key were magical de- 
vices on which the fate of the Alhambra depended. The 
Moorish king who built it was a great magician, or, as some 
believed, had sold himself to the devil, and had laid the whole 
fortress under a magic spell. By this means it had remained 
standing for several hundred years, in defiance of storms and 
earthquakes, while almost all other buildings of the Moors 
had fallen to ruin, and disappeared. This spell, the tradition 
went on to say, would last until the hand on the outer arch 
should reach down and grasp the key, when the whole pile 
would tumble to pieces, and all the treasures buried beneath it 
by the Moors would be revealed. 

Notwithstanding this ominous* prediction, we ventured to 
pass through the spell-bound gateway. 

After passing through the barbican, we asce:Q.ded a narrow 
lane, winding between walls, and came on an open esplanade " 
within the fortress, called the Plaza de los Algibes, or Place of 
the Cisterns, from great reservoirs which undermine it, cut in 
the living rocks by the Moors to receive the water brought by 
conduits from the Darro,^for the supply of the fortress. Here, 

1 depicted ; represented. ^ harmony ; agreement. * level place. 

2 given to ; put upon. * threatening. * a small tributary of the Xenil. 



PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 15 

also, is a well of immense depth, furnishing the purest and 
coldest of water; another monument of the delicate taste of 
the Moors, who were indefatigable ' in the exertions to obtain 
that element in its purity. 

In front of this esplanade is the splendid pile commenced 
by Charles V., and intended, it is said, to eclipse the residence 
of the Moorish kings. Much of the Oriental edifice intended 
for the winter season was demolished ^ to make way for this 
massive pile. The grand entrance was blocked up, so that the 
present entrance to the Moorish palace is through a simple 
and almost humble portal in a corner. With all the massive 
grandeur and architectural merit of the palace of Charles V., 
we regarded it as an arrogant ^ intruder, and, passing by it with 
a feeling almost of scorn, rang at the Moslem portal. 

While waiting for admittance, our self-imposed cicerone, 
Mateo Ximenes, informed us that the royal palace was intrusted 
to the care of a worthy old maiden dame called Dona Antonia 
Molina, but who, according to Spanish custom, went by the 
more neighborly appellation of Tia Antonia (Aunt Antonia), 
who maintained the Moorish halls and gardens in order and 
showed them to strangers. While we were talking, the door 
was opened by a plump little black-eyed Andalusian damsel, 
whom Mateo addressed as Dolores,'' but who, from her bright 
looks and cheerful disposition, evidently merited a merrier 
name. Mateo informed me in a whisper that she was the 
niece of Tia Antonia, and I found she was the good fairy who 
was to conduct us through the enchanted palace. Under her 
guidance we crossed the threshold, and were at once trans- 
ported,^ as if by magic wand, into other times and an Oriental 
realm, and were treading the scenes of Arabian story. Noth- 
ing could be in greater contrast than the unpromising ex- 
terior of the pile with the scene now before us. We found 
ourselves in a vast patio, or court, one hundred and fifty feet in 

' tireless. ' destroyed. ■• meaning sorrowful. 

3 assuming ; haughty. * carried. 



16 PALACE OF THE ALHAMBEA. 

length, and upwards of eighty feet in breadth, paved with 
white marble, and decorated at each end with light Moorish 
peristyles,^ one of which supported an elegant gallery of fretted 
architecture. Along the mouldings of the cornices^ and on 
various parts of the walls were escutcheons ^ and ciphers, and 
cufic* and Arabic characters in high relief, repeating the 
pious mottoes of the Moslem monarchs, the builders of the 
Alhambra, or extolling their grandeur and munificence/ 
Along the centre of the court extended an immense basin, 
or tank, a hundred and twenty-four feet in length, twenty- 
seven in breadth, and five in depth, receiving its water from 
two marble vases. Hence it is called the Court of the 
Alberca, the Arabic for a pond or tank. Great numbers of 
gold-fish were to be seen gleaming through the waters of the 
basin, and it was bordered by hedges of roses. 

Passing from the court of the Alberca, under a Moorish arch- 
way, we entered the renowned Court of Lions. No part of 
the edifice gives a more complete idea of its original beauty 
than this, for none has suffered so little from the ravages ^ of 
time. In the centre stands the fountain famous in song and 
story. The alabaster ^ basins still shed their diamond drops; the 
twelve lions which support them, and give the court its name, 
still cast forth crystal streams as in the days of Boabdil.® The 
lions, however, are unworthy of their fame, being of miserable 
sculpture ; the work, probably, of some Christian captive. The 
court is laid out in flower-beds, instead of its ancient and 
appropriate pavement of tiles and marble; the alteration, an 
instance of bad taste, was made by the French when in posses- 
sion of Granada. Kound the four sides of the court are light 
Arabian arcades of open filigree ° work supported by slender 
pillars of white marble, which it is supposed were originally 

1 ranges of columns. * pertaining to the older characters of the 

a moulded projections finishing the part Arabic language. 

to which they are attached. ' bounty ; liberality. « wastes ; inroads. 

3 shields on which are coats of arms. ^ a fine white variety of gypsum. 

8 last Moorish king of Granada. » ornamental network. 



PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 17 

gilded. The arcliitecture, like that in most parts of the 
interior of the palace, is characterized by elegance, rather than 
grandeur; bespeaking a delicate and graceful taste, and a dis- 
position to indolent ' enjoyment. When one looks upon the 
fairy traces of the peristyles, and the apparently fragile fret- 
work of the walls, it is difficult to believe that so much has 
survived the wear and tear of centuries, the shocks of earth- 
quakes, the violence of war, and the quiet, though no less 
baneful,'' pilferings of the tasteful traveller; it is almost suffi- 
cient to excuse the popular tradition that the whole is pro- 
tected by a magic charm. 

On one side of the court a rich portal opens into the Hall of 
the Abencerrages, so called from the gallant cavaliers of that 
illustrious line who were here perfidiously ^ massacred. There 
are some who doubt the whole story; but ourliumble cicerone 
Mateo pointed out the very wicket of the portal through 
which they were introduced one by one into the Court of Lions, 
and the white marble fountain in the centre of the hall, beside 
which they were beheaded. He showed us also certain broad 
ruddy stains on the pavement, traces of their blood, which, 
according to popular belief, can never be effaced. 

Immediately opposite the Hall of the Abencerrages a portal, 
richly adorned, leads into a hall of less tragical associations. 
It is light and lofty, exquisitely graceful in its architecture, 
paved with white marble, and bears the suggestive name of the 
Hall of the Two Sisters. Some destroy the romance of the 
name by attributing it to two enormous slabs of alabaster 
which lie side by side, and form a great part of the pavement; 
an opinion strongly supported by Mateo Ximenes. Others are 
disposed to give the name a more poetical significance, as the 
vague memorial of Moorish beauties who once graced this hall, 
which was evidently a part of the royal harem.* This opinion 
I was happy to find entertained by our little bright-eyed guide 

1 lazy ; idle. ' injurious ; destructive. * portion of the house allotted to females 
' treacherously. in large dwellings of the East. 

2 



18 ^ PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

Dolores, who pointed to a balcony over an inner porch, which 
gallery, she had been told, belonged to the women's apartment. 
*' You see, senor," said she, " it is all grated and latticed, like 
the gallery in a convent chapel where the nuns hear mass ; for 
the Moorish kings," said she, indignantly, ^*shut up their 
wives just like nuns." 

The latticed "jalousies," ^ in fact, still remain, whence the 
dark-eyed beauties of the harem might gaze unseen upon the 
zambras and other dances and entertainments of the hall below. 

On each side of this hall are recesses or alcoves for ottomans 
and couches, on which the voluptuous ^ lords of the Alhambra 
indulged in that dreamy repose so dear to the Orientalists. A 
cupola or lantern admits a tempered light from above, and a 
free circulation of air; while on one side is heard the refresh- 
ing sound of waters from the Fountain of the Lions, and on 
the other side the soft plash from the basin in the Garden of 
Lindaraxa. 

It is impossible to comtemplate this scene so perfectly 
Oriental without feeling the early associations of Arabian 
romance, and almost expecting to see the white arm of some 
mysterious princess beckoning from the gallery, or some dark 
eye sparkling through the lattice. The abode of beauty is 
here, as if it had been inhabited but yesterday ; but where are 
the two sisters ? Where the Zoraydas and Lindaraxas ? 

An abundant supply of water, brought from the mountains 
by old Moorish aqueducts, circulates throughout the palace, 
supplying its baths and fish -pools, sparkling in jets within its 
halls, or murmuring in channels along the marble pavements. 
AYhen it has paid its tribute to the royal pile, and visited its 
gardens and parterres,^ it flows down the long avenue leading 
to the city, tinkling in rills, gushing in fountains, and main- 
taining a perpetual verdure in those groves that embower and 
beautify the whole hill of the Alhambra. 

1 slatted window blinds. ^ ornamental arrangement of flower-beds 

2 given to Gcnsnal pleasure. with walks between. 



PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 19 

Those only who have sojourned in the ardent climates of the 
South can appreciate the delights of an abode combining the 
breezy coolness of the mountain with the freshness and verdure 
of the valley. While the city below pants with the noontide 
heat, and the parched Vega ^ trembles to the eye, the delicate 
airs from the Sierra Nevada play through these lofty halls, 
bringing with them the sweetness of the surrounding gardens. 
Every thing invites to that indolent repose, the bliss of south- 
ern climes; and while the half -shut eye looks out from shaded 
balconies upon the glittering landscape, the ear is lulled by the 
rustling of groves and the murmur of running streams. 

I forbear, for the present, however, to describe the other 
delightful apartments of the palace. My object is merely to 
give the reader a general introduction into an abode where, 
if so disposed, he may linger and loiter with me day by day 
until we gradually become familiar with all its localities. 

* (vay'gati), valley. 



ALHAMAR, THE FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

The Moors of Granada regarded the Alliambra as a miracle 
of art, and had a tradition that the king who founded it dealt 
in magic, or at least in alchemy/ by means whereof he pro- 
cured the immense sums of gold expended in its erection. A 
brief view of his reign will show the secret of his wealth. 
He is known in Arabian history as Muhamed Ibn-1-Ahmar; 
but his name in general is written simply Alhamar, and was 
given to him, we are told, on account of his ruddy complexion. 

He was of the noble and opulent ^ line of the Beni Nasar, 
or tribe of Nasar, and was born in Arjona, in the year of the 
Hegira^ 592 (a.d. 1195). At his birth the astrologers, we are 
told, cast his horoscope," according to Oriental custom, and 
pronounced it highly auspicious; and a santon^ predicted for 
him a glorious career. No expense was spared in fitting him 
for the high destinies prognosticated.^ Before he attained the 
full years of manhood, the famous battle of the Navas (or 
plains) of Tolosa shattered the Moorish empire, and eventually 
severed the Moslems of Spain from the Moslems of Africa. 
Factions soon arose among the former, headed by warlike 
chiefs, ambitious of grasping the sovereignty ^ of the Penin- 
sula. Alhamar became engaged in these wars; he was the gen- 
eral and leader of the Beni Nasar, and, as such, he opposed 
and thwarted the ambition of Aben Hud, who had raised his 
standard among the w^arlike mountains of the Alpuxaras,® and 

1 an ancient science which aimed to change at the time of one's birth to foretell the 
base metals into gold. events of his life. 

2 wealthy. * a Turkish saint. ^ foretold. 

3 the flight of Mohammed from Mecca, ' right to exercise supreme power. 

July 16, 622, from which date time is « (ahl-poo-hah'rahs), mountain range par- 
reckoned by his followers. allel to the Sierra Nevada from Motril to the 
* observation of the aspect of the heavens river Almeria. 



ALHAMAR, THE FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 21 

been proclaimed king of Mnrcia ' and Granada. Many con- 
flicts took place between these warring chieftains; Alhamar 
dispossessed his rival of several important places, and was pro- 
claimed king of Jaen^ by his soldiery; but he aspired to the 
sovereignty of the whole of Andalusia, for he was of a san- 
guine ' spirit and lofty ambition. His valor and generosity 
went hand in hand; what he gained by the one he secured by 
the other; and at the death of Aben Hud (a.d. 1238), he 
became sovereign of all the territories which owned allegiance 
to that powerful chief. He made his formal entry into Gra- 
nada in the same year, amid the enthusiastic shouts of the mul- 
titude, who hailed him as the only one capable of uniting the 
various factions which prevailed, and which threatened to lay 
the empire at the mercy of the Christian princes. 

Alhamar established his court in Granada; he was the first 
of the illustrious " line of Nasar that sat upon a throne. He 
took immediate measures to put his little kingdom in a post- 
ure of defence against the assaults to be expected from his 
Christian neighbors, repairing and strengthening the frontier 
posts and fortifying the capital. Not content with the pro- 
visions of the Moslem law, by which every man is made a 
soldier, he raised a regular army to garrison his strongholds, 
allowing every soldier stationed on the frontier a portion of 
land for the support of himself, his horse, and his family; thus 
interesting him in the defence of the soil in which he had 
a property. These Avise precautions were justified by events. 
The Christians, profiting by the dismemberment of the Mos- 
lem power, were rapidly regaining their ancient territories. 
James the Conqueror had subjected all Valencia, and Ferdi- 
nand ' the Saint sat down in person before Jaen, the bul- 
wark of Granada. Alhamar ventured to oppose him in open 
field, but met with a signal defeat, and retired discomfited to 

1 province in souttieast of Spain, sur- 3 bloody, with desire for war and blood- 
round'id by Granada, Andalusia, La Mancha, shed. 

and Valencia. * noted. 

2 province fifty miles north of Granada. * He founded the University of Salamanca. 



22 ALHAMAE, THE FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

his capital. Jaen still held out, and kept the enemy at bay 
during an entire winter; but Ferdinand swore not to raise his 
camp until he had gained possession of the place. Alhamar 
found it impossible to throw reinforcements into the besieged 
city; he saw that its fall must be followed by the investment^ 
of his capital, and was conscious of the insufficiency of his 
means to cope with the potent sovereign of Castile. Taking 
a sudden resolution, therefore, he repaired privately to the 
Christian camp, made his unexpected appearance in the pres- 
ence of King Ferdinand, and frankly announced himself as 
the king of Granada. " I come," said he, '' confiding in your 
good faith, to put myself under your protection. Take all I 
possess and receive me as your vassal; " ^ so saying, he knelt 
and kissed the king's hand in token of allegiance. 

Ferdinand was won by this instance of confiding faith, and 
determined not to be outdone in generosity. He raised his late 
enemy from the earth, embraced him as a friend, and, refus- 
ing the wealth he offered, left him sovereign of his dominions, 
under the feudal tenure of a yearly tribute, attendance at the 
Cortes as one of the nobles of the empire, and service in war 
with a certain number of horsemen. He, moreover, conferred 
on him the honor of knighthood, and armed him with his own 
hands. 

It was not long after this that Alhamar was called upon for 
his military services, to aid King Ferdinand in his famous siege 
of Seville.^ The Moorish king sallied forth with five hundred 
chosen horsemen of Granada, than whom none in the world 
knew better how to manage the steed or wdeld the lance. It 
was a humiliating " service, however, for they had to draw the 
sword against their brethren of the faith. 

Alhamar gained a melancholy distinction by his prowess in 
this renowned conquest, but more true honor by the humanity 



1 surrounding. ^ city on left bank of Guadalquiver, eighty 

2 subject ; slave. miles from its mouth. 

* humbling. 



ALHAMAR, THE FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 23 

whicli he prevailed upon Ferdinand to introduce into the 
usages of war. When in 1248 the famous city of Seville sur- 
rendered to the Oastilian monarch, Alhamar returned sad and 
full of care to his dominions. He saw the gathering ills that 
menaced the Moslem cause, and uttered an ejaculation often 
used by him in moments of anxiety and trouble: '^How 
straightened and wretched would be our life, if our hope were 
not so spacious and extensive." 

As he approached Granada, on his return, he beheld arches 
of triumph which had been erected in honor of his martial 
exploits. The people thronged forth to see him with impatient 
joy, for his benignant ^ rule had won all hearts. Wherever he 
passed he was hailed with acclamations as " The Conqueror." 
Alhamar gave a melancholy shake of the head on hearing the 
appellation. ''There is no conqueror but God!" exclaimed 
he. From that time forward this exclamation became his 
motto, and the motto of his descendants, and appears to 
this day emblazoned on his escutcheons in the halls of the 
Alhambra. 

Alhamar had purchased peace by submission to the Christian 
yoke; but he was conscious that, with elements so discordant,^ 
and motives for hostility so deep and ancient, it could not be 
permanent. Acting, therefore, upon the old maxim, "Arm 
thyself in peace, and clothe thyself in summer," he improved 
the present interval of tranquillity ^ by fortifying his dominions, 
replenishing his arsenals,* and promoting those useful arts 
which give wealth and real power. He confided the command 
of his various cities to such as had distinguished themselves by 
valor and prudence, and who seemed most acceptable to the 
people. He organized a vigilant police, and established rigid 
rules for the administration of justice. The poor and the dis- 
tressed always found ready admission to his presence, and he 
attended personally to their assistance and redress. He erected 

' kind ; mild. ' freedom from disturbing influences. 

2 inharmonious ; contradictory. ■* storeliouses for weapons of war. 



24 ALHAMAR, THE FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

hospitals for the blind, the aged, and infirm, and all those in- 
capable of labor, and visited them frequently; not on set days, 
with pomp and form, so as to give time for every thing to be 
put in order, and every abuse concealed ; but suddenly and un- 
expectedly, informing himself, by actual observation and close 
inquiry, of the treatment of tlie sick and the conduct of those 
appointed to administer to their relief. He founded schools 
and colleges, which he visited in the same manner, inspecting 
personally the instruction of the youth. He established 
butcheries and public ovens, that the people might be furnished 
with wholesome provisions at just and regular prices. He 
introduced abundant streams of water into the city, erecting 
baths and fountains, and constructing aqueducts and canals 
to irrigate ^ and fertilize the Vega. By these means prosperity 
and abundance prevailed in this beautiful city, its gates were 
thronged with commerce, and its warehouses filled with luxu- 
ries and merchandise of every clime and country. 

He, moreover, gave premiums and privileges to the best arti- 
sans ;''^ improved the breed of horses and other domestic ani- 
mals; encouraged husbandry;^ and increased the natural 
fertility of the soil twofold by his protection, making the lovely 
valleys of his kingdom to bloom like gardens. He fostered 
also the growth and fabrication* of silk, until the looms of 
Granada surpassed even those of Syria ^ in the fineness and 
beauty of their productions. He, moreover, caused the mines 
of gold and silver and other metals, found in the mountainous 
regions of his dominions, to be diligently worked, and was the 
first king of Granada who struck money of gold and silver 
with his name, taking great care that the coins should be 
skilfully executed. 

It was towards the middle of the thirteenth century, and 
just after his return from the siege of Seville, that he com- 

1 distribute water over. * making. 

8 skilled workmen. ^ territorj' of Asiatic Turkey, bordering on 

' farming. Mediterranean Sea. 



ALHAMAR, THE FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 25 

menced the splendid palace of the Alhambra, superintending 
the building of it in person, mingling frequently among the 
artists and workmen, and directing their labors. 

Though thus magnificent in his works and great in his enter- 
prises, he was simple in his person and moderate in his enjoy- 
ments. His dress was not merely void of splendor, but so 
plain as not to distinguish him from his subjects. His harem 
boasted but few beauties, and these he visited but seldom, 
though they were entertained with great magnificence. His 
Avives were daughters of the principal nobles, and were treated 
by him as friends and rational companions. What is more, 
he managed to make them live in friendship with one another. 
He passed much of his time in his gardens, especially in those 
of the Alhambra, which he had stored with the rarest plants 
and the most beautiful and aromatic^ flowers. Here he 
delighted himself in reading histories, or in causing them to 
be read and related to him, and sometimes, in intervals of leis- 
ure, employed himself in the instruction of his three sons, for 
whom he had provided the most learned and virtuous masters. 

As he had frankly and voluntarily offered himself a tribu- 
tary vassal to Ferdinand, so he always remained loyal to his 
word, giving him repeated proofs of fidelity and attachment. 
When tliat renowned monarch died in Seville in 1254, Alha- 
mar sent ambassadors to condole with his successor, Alonzo X., 
and with them a gallant train of a hundred Moorish cavaliers 
of distinguished rank, who were to attend round the royal bier 
during the funeral ceremonies, each, bearing a lighted taper. 
This grand testimonial of respect was repeated by the Moslem 
monarch during the remainder of his life, on each anniversary 
of the death of King Ferdinand el Santo, when the hundred 
Moorish knights repaired from Granada to Seville, and took 
their stations, with lighted tapers, in the centre of the sumptu- 
ous cathedral, round the cenotaph ^ of the illustrious deceased. 

Alhamar retained his faculties and vigor to an advanced age. 

» fragrant. ^ empty tomb erected in honor of some one buried elsewhere. 



26 ALHAMAR, THE FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

In liis seventy-ninth year (a.d. 1272) he took the field on 
horseback, accompanied by the flower of his chivalry, to resist 
an invasion of his territories. As the army sallied forth from 
Granada, one of the principal adalides, or guides, who rode 
in advance, accidentally broke his lance against the arch of the 
gate. The councillors of the king, alarmed by this circum- 
stance, which was considered an evil omen, entreated him to 
return. Their supplications were in vain. The king persisted, 
and at noontide the omen, say the Moorish chroniclers, was 
fatally fulfilled. Alhamar was suddenly struck with illness, 
and had nearly fallen from his horse. He was placed on a litter, 
and borne back towards Granada, but his illness increased to 
such a degree that they were obliged to pitch his tent in the 
Vega. His physicians were filled with consternation,^ not 
knowing what remedy to prescribe. In a few hours he died, 
vomiting blood, and in violent convulsions. The Castilian 
prince Don Philip, brother of Alonzo X., was by his side 
when he expired. His body was embalmed, enclosed in a 
silver coffin, and buried in the Alhambra, in a sepulchre of 
precious marble, amidst the unfeigned lamentations of his sub- 
jects, who bewailed him as a parent. 

I have said that he was the first of the illustrious line of 
INasar that sat upon a throne. I may add that he was the 
founder of a brilliant kingdom, which will ever be famous in 
history and romance as the last rallying place of Moslem 
power and splendor in the Peninsula. Though his undertak- 
ings were vast, and his expenditures immense, yet his treasury 
was always full; and this seeming contradiction gave rise to 
the story that he was versed in magic art, and possessed of the 
secret for transmuting baser metals into gold. Those who have 
attended to his domestic policy, as here set forth, will easily 
understand the natural magic and simple alchemy which 
made his ample treasury to overflow. 

1 sudden alarm confusing the mind. 



YUSEF ABUL HAGIG, 

THE FINISHER OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

To the foregoing particulars, concerning the Moslem princes 
who once reigned in these halls, I shall add a brief notice of 
the monarch who completed and embellished ^ the Alhambra. 
Yusef Abul Hagig (or, as it is sometimes written, Haxis) was 
another prince of the noble line of N"asar. He ascended the 
throne of Granada in the year of grace 1333, and is described 
by Moslem writers as having a noble presence, great bodily 
strength, and a fair complexion, and the majesty of his coun- 
tenance increased, say they, by suffering his beard to grow to 
a dignified length and dyeing it black. His manners were 
gentle, affable, and urbane ; ^ he carried the benignity ^ of his 
nature into warfare, prohibiting all wanton* cruelty, and 
enjoining mercy and protection towards women and children, 
the aged and infirm, and all friars and other persons of holy 
and recluse life. But though he possessed the courage com- 
mon to generous spirits, the bent of his genius was more for 
peace than war; and though repeatedly obliged by circum- 
stances to take up arms, he was generally unfortunate. 

Among other ill-starred enterprises, he undertook a great 
campaign, in conjunction with the King of Morocco, against 
the Kings of Castile and Portugal, but was defeated in the 
memorable battle of Salado,^ which had nearly proved a death- 
blow to the Moslem power in Spain. 

Yusef obtained a long truce after this defeat, and now his 
character shone forth in its true lustre. He had an excellent 

1 ornamented * unrestrained ; reckless. 

» polite. ^ small river in province of Cadiz. 

s kindness. 



28 YUSEF ABUL HAGIG. 

memory, and had stored his mind with science and erudition; * 
his taste was altogether elegant and refined, and he was 
accounted the best poet of his time. Devoting himself to the 
instruction of his people and the improvement of their morals 
and manners, he established schools in all the villages, with 
simple and uniform systems of education; he obliged every 
hamlet of more than twelve houses to have a mos'que,'^ and 
purified the ceremonies of religion, and the festivals and pop- 
ular amusements, from various abuses and indecorums ^ which 
had crept into them. He attended vigilantly to the police 
of the city, establishing nocturnal* guards and patrols, and 
superintending all municipal concerns. His attention was 
also directed towards finishing the great architectural works 
commenced by his predecessors, and erecting others on his 
own plans. The Alhambra, which had been founded by the 
good Alhamar, was now completed. Yusef constructed the 
beautiful Gate of Justice, forming the grand entrance to the for- 
tress, which he finished in 1348. He likewise adorned many 
of the courts and halls of the palace, as may be seen by the 
inscriptions on the walls, in which his name repeatedly occurs. 
Pie built also the noble Alcazar or citadel of Malaga, now 
unfortunately a mere mass of crumbling ruins, but which 
most probably exhibited in its interior similar elegance and 
magnificence with the Alhambra. 

The genius of a sovereign stamps a character upon his time. 
The nobles of Granada, imitating the elegant and graceful 
taste of Yusef, soon filled the city of Granada with magnifi- 
cent palaces, the halls of which were paved with mosaic; the 
walls and ceilings wrought in fretwork, and delicately gilded 
and painted with azure, vermilion, and other brilliant colors, 
or minutely inlaid with cedar and other precious woods; 
specimens of which have survived, in all their lustre, the 
lapse of several centuries. Many of the houses had fountains, 

1 very great learning. s improprieties of behavior. 

2 Mohammedan place of worship. * nightly. 



YUSEP ABUL HAGIG. 29 

wliich threw up jets of water to refresh and cool the air. They 
had lofty towers, also, of wood or stone, curiously carved and 
ornamented, and covered with plates of metal that glittered 
in the sun. Such was the refined and delicate taste in archi- 
tecture that prevailed among this elegant people; insomuch 
that, to use the beautiful simile of an Arabian writer, " Gra- 
nada, in the days of Yusef,.was as a silver vase filled with em- 
eralds and jacinths." 

One anecdote will be sufficient to show the magnanimity ' 
of this generous prince. The long truce which had succeeded 
the battle of Salado was at an end, and every effort of Yusef 
to renew it was in vain. His deadly foe, Alfonzo XI. of Cas- 
tile, took the field with great force, and laid siege to Gibraltar. 
Yusef reluctantly took up arms, and sent troops to the relief 
of the place. In the midst of his anxiety, he received tidings 
that his dreaded foe had suddenly fallen a victim to the plague. 
Instead of manifesting exultation on the occasion, Yusef 
called to mind the great qualities of the deceased, and was 
touched with a noble sorrow, '' Alas ! " cried he, " the world 
has lost one of its most excellent princes; a sovereign who 
knew how to honor merit, whether in friend or foe! " 

The Spanish chroniclers themselves bear witness to this 
magnanimity. According to their accounts, the Moorish cava- 
liers partook of the sentiment of their king, and put on 
mourning for the death of Alfonzo. Even those of Gibraltar, 
who had been so closely invested, when they knew that the 
hostile monarch lay dead in his camp, determined among 
themselves that no hostile movement should be made against 
the Christians. The day on which the camp was broken up, 
and the army departed, bearing the corpse of Alfonzo, the 
Moors issued in multitudes from Gibraltar, and stood mute 
and melancholy, watching the mournful pageant.^ The same 
reverence for the deceased was observed by all the Moorish 
commanders on the frontiers, who suffered the funeral train to 

> greatness of mind. ' showy spectacle or procession. 



. so YUSEF ABUL HAGIG, 

pass in safety, bearing the corpse of the Christian sovereign 
from Gibraltar to Seville. 

Yusef did not long survive the enemy he had so generously 
deplored. In the year 1354, as he was one day praying in the 
royal mosque of the Alhambra, a maniac rushed suddenly 
from behind, and plunged a dagger in his side. The cries of 
the king brought his guards and courtiers to his assistance. 
They found him weltering in his blood. He made some signs 
as if to speak, but his words were unintelligible. They bore 
him senseless to the royal apartments, where he expired almost 
immediately. The murderer was cut to pieces, and his limbs 
burnt in public, to gratify the fury of the populace. 

The body of the king was interred in a superb sepulchre of 
white marble; a long epitaph, in letters of ^old upon an azure 
ground, recorded his virtues. ^' Here lies a king and martyr, 
of an illustrious line, gentle, learned, and virtuous; renowned 
for the graces of his person and his manners; whose clemency,^ 
piety, and benevolence were extolled throughout the kingdom 
of Granada. He was a great prince, an illustrious captain, a 
sharp sword of the Moslems, a valiant standard-bearer among 
the most potent monarchs," etc. 

The mosque still exists which once resounded with the dying 
cries of Yusef, but the monliment which recorded his virtues 
has long since disappeared. His name, however, remains 
inscribed among the delicate and graceful ornaments of the 
Alhambra, and will be perpetuated'^ in connection with this 
renowned pile, which it was his pride and delight to beautify. 

1 mildnees. ' made lasting. 



PANORAMA^ FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES. 

It is a serene and beautiful morning; the sun has not gained 
sufficient power to destroy the freshness of the night. What 
a morning to mount to the summit of the Tower of Oomares, 
and take a bird's-eye view of Granada and its environs! 

Come, then, worthy reader and comrade, follow my steps into 
this vestibule, ornamented with rich tracery, which opens into 
the Hall of Ambassadors. W^e will not enter the hall, how- 
ever, but turn to this small door opening into the wall. Have 
a care! Here are steep, winding steps and but scanty light; 
yet up this narrow, obscure, and spiral staircase the proud 
monarchs of Granada and their queens have often ascended to 
the battlements to watch the approach of invading armies, or 
gaze, with anxious hearts, on the battles in the Vega. 

At length we have reached the terraced roof, and may take 
breath for a moment, while we cast a general eye over the 
splendid panorama of city and country; of rocky mountain, 
verdant valley, and fertile plain; of castle, cathedral, Moorish 
towers and Gothic domes, crumbling ruins and blooming 
groves. Let us approach the battlements, and cast our eyes 
immediately below. See, on this side we have the whole plain 
of the Alhambra laid open to us, and can look down into its 
courts and gardens. At the foot of the tower is the Court of 
the Alberca, with its great tank or fish-pool bordered with 
flowers; and yonder is the Court of Lions, with its famous 
fountain and its light Moorish arcades;'^ and in the centre of 
the pile is the little garden of Lindaraxa, buried in the heart of 
the building, with its roses and citrons, and shrubbery of em- 
erald green. 

That belt of battlements, studded with square towers, strag- 

complete view. 2 a series of arches supported by columns. 



32 PANORAMA FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES. 

gling round the whole brow of the hill^ is the outer boundary 
of the fortress. Some of the towers, you may perceive, are 
in ruins, and their massive fragments buried among vines, fig- 
trees, and aloes. 

Let us look on this northern side of the tower. It is a giddy 
height; the very foundations of the tower rise above the 
groves of the steep hillside. And see ! a long fissure ^ in the 
massive walls shows that the tower has been rent by some of 
the earthquakes which from time to time have thrown Gra- 
nada into consternation, and which, sooner or later, must 
reduce this crumbling pile to a mere mass of ruin. The deep, 
narrow glen below us, which gradually widens as it opens from 
the mountains, is the valley of the Darro; you see the little 
river winding its way under embowered terraces, and among 
orchards and flower gardens. It is a stream famous in old 
times for yielding gold, and its sands are still sifted occasion- 
ally, in search of the precious ore. Some of those white pavil- 
ions,'^ which here and there gleam from among groves and 
vineyards, were rustic retreats of the Moors, to enjoy the 
refreshment of their gardens. Well have they been compared 
by one of their poets to so many pearls set in a bed of emer- 
alds. 

The airy palace, with its tall white towers and long arcades, 
which breasts yon mountain, among pompous groves and hang- 
ing gardens, is the Generalife,^ a summer palace of the Moorish 
kings, to which they resorted during the sultry months to 
enjoy a still more breezy region than that of the Alhambra. 
The naked summit of the height above it, where you behold 
some shapeless ruins, is the Silla del Moro, or Seat of the 
Moor, so called from having been a retreat of the unfortunate 
Boabdil during the time of an insurrection, where he seated 
himself, and looked down mournfully upon his rebellious city. 

A murmuring sound of water now and then rises from the 

1 opening ; cleft. ^ on the side of the mountain, high above 

8 summer-houses. the Alhambra. 



PANORAMA FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES. 33 

valley. It is from the aqueduct of yon Moorish mill, nearly at 
the foot of the hill. The avenue of trees beyond is the Ala- 
meda, along the bank of the Darro, a favorite resort in even- 
ings, and a rendezvous of lovers in the summer nights, when 
the guitar may be heard at a late hour from the benches along 
its walks. At present you see none but a few loitering monks 
there, and a group of water-carriers. The latter are burdened 
with water-jars of ancient Oriental construction, such as were 
used by the Moors. They have been filled at the cold and 
limpid spring called the Fountain of Avellanos. Yon moun- 
tain path leads to the fountain, a favorite resort of Moslems, as 
well as Christians; for this is said to be the Adinamar (Aynu- 
1-adamar), the "Fountain of Tears," mentioned by Ibn Bat- 
uta the traveller, and celebrated in the histories and romances 
of the Moors. 

You start ! 'Tis nothing but a hawk that we have frightened 
from his nest. This old tower is a complete breeding-place for 
vagrant birds; the swallow and martlet ' abound in every chink 
and cranny, and circle about it the whole day long; while at 
night, when all other birds have gone to rest, the moping owl 
comes out of its lurking-place, and utters its boding ^ cry from 
the battlements. See how the hawk we have dislodged sweeps 
away below us, skimming over the tops of the trees, and sail- 
ing up to the ruins above the Generalife. 

I see you raise your eyes to the snowy summit of yon pile of 
mountains, shining like a white summer cloud in the blue sky. 
It is the Sierra Nevada, the pride and delight of Granada; the 
source of her cooling breezes and perpetual verdure; of her 
gushing fountains and perennial ^ streams. It is this glorious 
pile of mountains which gives to Gransida that combination of 
delights so rare in a southern city — the fresh vegetation and 
temperate airs of a northern climate, with the vivifying " ardor 
of a tropical sun, and the cloudless azure of a southern sky. 

» a kind of swallow. 3 through the year ; unfailing. 

2 foreshowing or threatening ill. < animating ; enduing with life. 



84 PANORAMA FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES. 

It is this aerial treasury of snow, which, melting in proportion 
to the increase of the summer heat, sends down rivulets and 
streams through every glen and gorge of the Alpuxaras, dif- 
fusing emerald verdure and fertility throughout a chain of 
happy and sequestered ^ valleys. 

Those mountains may be well called the glory of Granada. 
They dominate the whole extent of Andalusia, and may be 
seen from its most distant parts. The muleteer hails them, 
as he views their frosty peaks from the sultry level of the 
plain; and the Spanish mariner, on the deck of his bark, far, 
far off on the bosom of the blue Mediterranean, watches them 
with a pensive eye, thinks of delightful Granada, and chants, 
in low voice, some old romance about the Moors. 

See to the south, at the foot of those mountains, a line of 
arid ^ hills, down which a long train of mules is slowly moving. 
Here was the closing scene of Moslem domination. From the 
summit of one of those hills the unfortunate Boabdil cast 
back his last look upon Granada, and gave vent to the agony 
of his soul. It is the spot famous in song and story, ''The 
last sigh of the Moor." 

Farther this way these arid hills slope down into the luxu- 
rious Vega, from which he had just emerged — a blooming wil- 
derness of grove and garden and teeming orchard, with the 
Xenil winding through it in silver links, and feeding innu- 
merable rills; which, conducted through ancient Moorish 
channels, maintain the landscape in perpetual verdure. Here 
were the beloved bowers and gardens and rural pavilions, for 
which the unfortunate Moors fought with such desperate valor. 
The very hovels and rude granges,^ now inhabited by boors,* 
show, by the remains of arabesques ^ and other tasteful deco- 
ration, that they were elegant residences in the days of the 
Moslems. Behold, in the very centre of this eventful plain, 

* secluded ; hidden. ■* peasants ; rustics. 

2 parched with beat ^decorations after the manner of the 

8 farm-hoases. Arabians. 



PANORAMA FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES. 35 

a place which in a manner links the history of the Old World 
with that of the New. Yon line of walls and towers gleaming 
in the morning sun is the city of Santa 'Fe, built by the Catho- 
lic sovereigns during the siege of Granada, after a conflagra- 
tion had destroyed their camp. It was to these walls Columbus 
was called back by the heroic queen/ and within them the 
treaty was concluded which led to the discovery of the West- 
ern world. Behind yon promontory, to the west, is the Bridge 
of Pinos, renowned for many a bloody fight between Moors 
and Christians. At this bridge the messenger overtook Co- 
lumbus when, despairing of success with the Spanish sover- 
eigns, he was departing to carry his project of discovery to 
the court of France. 

Above the bridge a range of mountains bounds the Vega to 
the west — the ancient barrier between Granada and the Chris- 
tian territories. Among their heights you may still discern 
warrior towns, their gray walls and battlements seeming of a 
piece with the rocks on which they are built. Here and there 
a solitary atalaya, or watch-tower, perched on a mountain 
peak, looks down, as it were from the sky, into the valley on 
either side. How often have these atalayas given notice, by 
fire at night or smoke by day, of an approaching foe ! It was 
down a cragged defile of these mountains, called the Pass of 
Lope, that the Christian armies descended into the Vega. 
Eound the base of yon gray and naked mountaih (the Moun- 
tain of Elvira), stretching its bold, rocky promontory into the 
bosom of the plain, the invading squadron would come burst- 
ing into view, with flaunting banners and clangor of drum and 
trumpet. 

Five hundred years have elapsed since Ismael ben Ferrag, 
a Moorish king in Granada, beheld from this very tower an 
invasion of the kind, and an insulting ravage of the Vega; 
on which occasion he displayed an instance of chivalrous mag- 
nanimity, often witnessed in the Moslem princes, *' whose 

i Isabella. 



86 PANORAMA FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES. 

history," says an Arabian writer, ^''abounds in generous 
actions and noble deeds that will last through all succeeding 
ages, and live forever in the memory of man." — But let us 
sit down on this parapet, and I will relate the anecdote. 

It was in the year of Grace 1319 that Ismael ben Ferrag 
beheld from this tower a Christian camp whitening the skirts 
of yon Mountain of Elvira. The royal princes Don Juan and 
Don Pedro, regents of Castile during the minority of Alfonzo 
XI., had already laid waste the country from Alcaudete' to 
Alcala la Eeal,"^ capturing the castle of Illora, and setting fire 
to its suburbs, and they now carried their insulting ravages to 
the very gates of Granada, defying the king to sally forth and 
give them battle. 

Ismael, though a young and intrepid prince, hesitated to 
accept the challenge. He had not sufficient force at hand, 
and awaited the arrival of troops summoned from the neigh- 
boring towns. The Christian princes, mistaking his motives, 
gave up all hope of drawing him forth, and, having glutted 
themselves with ravage, struck their tents and began their 
homeward march. Don Pedro led the van, and Don Juan 
brought up the rear; but their march was confused and irreg- 
ular, the army being greatly encumbered by the spoils and 
captives they had taken. 

By this time King Ismael had received his expected re- 
sources, and putting them under the command of Osmyn, one 
of the bravest of his generals, sent them forth in hot pur- 
suit of the enemy. The Christians were overtaken in the 
defiles of the mountains. A panic seized them; they were 
completely routed, and driven with great slaughter across the 
borders. Both of the princes lost their lives. The body of 
Don Pedro was carried off by his soldiers, but that of Don 
Juan was lost in the darkness of the night. His son wrote to 
the Moorish king, entreating that the body of his father might 

1 town in Andalusia, twenty-four miles " town in Andalusia, thirty miles south- 
southwest of Jaen. west of Jaen. 



PANORAMA FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES. 37 

be sought and honorably treated. Ismael forgot in a moment 
that Don Juan was an enemy, who had carried ravage and 
insult to the very gate of his capital; he only thought of him 
as a gallant cavalier and a royal prince. By his command 
diligent search was made for the body. It was found in a 
barranco ' and brought to Gi-ranada. There Ismael caused it 
to be laid out in state on a lofty bier, surrounded by torches 
and tapers, in one of these halls of the Alhambra. Osmyn 
and other of the noblest cavaliers were appointed as a guard 
of honor, and Christian captives were assembled to pray 
around it. 

In the mean time Ismael wrote to the son of Prince Juan 
to send a convoy for the body, assuring him it should be 
safely delivered up. In due time a band of Christian cava- 
liers arrived for the purpose. They were honorably received 
and entertained by Ismael, and, on their departure with the 
body, the guard of honor of Moslem cavaliers escorted the 
funeral train to the frontier. 

But enough; the sun is high above the mountains, and 
pours his full fervor on our heads. Already the terraced roof 
is hot beneath our feet; let us abandon it, and refresh our- 
selves under the arcades by the Fountain of the Lions. 

1 slope of steep bank. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

In" old times, many hundred years ago, there was a Moorish 
king named Aben Habuz, who reigned over the kingdom of 
Granada. He was a retired conqueror; that is to say, one who, 
having in his more youthful days led a life of constant foray * 
and depredation,'^ now that he was grown feeble and superan- 
nuated,^ '^languished for repose," and desired nothing more 
than to live at peace with all the world, to husband his laurels, 
and to enjoy in quiet the possessions he had wrested from his 
neighbors. 

It so happened, however, that this most reasonable and pacific * 
old monarch had young rivals to deal with; princes full of his 
early passion for fame and fighting, and who were disposed to 
call him to account for the scores he had run up with their 
fathers. Certain distant districts of his own territories, also, 
which during the days of his vigor he had treated with a high 
hand, were prone, now that he languished for repose, to rise 
in rebellion and threaten to invest him in his capital. Thus 
he had foes on every side; and as Granada is surrounded by 
wild and craggy mountains, which hide the approach of an 
enemy, the unfortunate Aben Habuz was kept in a constant 
state of vigilance and alarm, not knowing in what quarter 
hostilities might break out. 

It was in vain that he built watch towers on the mountains, 
and stationed guards at every pass, with orders to make fires 
by night and smoke by day on the approach of an enemy. 
His alert foes, baffling every precaution, would break out of 
some unthought of defile,^ ravage his lands beneath his very 

* a sudden incursion in a border war. * mild, peaceful. 

8 act of despoiling or making inroads. « a long, narrow pass in whicli troops can 

5 impaired by old age. marcb only in a file. 



LEGEKD OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 89 

nose, and then make off with prisoners and booty to the moun- 
tains. Was ever peaceable and retired conqueror in a more 
uncomfortable predicament ? ' 

"While Aben Habuz was harassed by these perplexities and 
molestations/ an ancient Arabian physician arrived at his 
court. His gray beard descended to his girdle, and he had 
every mark of extreme age; yet he had travelled almost the 
whole way from Egypt on foot, with no other aid than a staff, 
marked with hieroglyphics.^ His fame had preceded him. 
His name was Ibrahim Ebn Abu Ayub; 4ie was said to have 
lived ever since the days of Mohammed, and to be son of 
Abu Ayub, the last of the companions of the Prophet. Pie 
had, when a child, followed the conquering army of Amru * 
into Egypt, where he had remained many years, studying the 
dark sciences, and particularly magic, among the Egyptian 
priests. 

It was, moreover, said that he had found out the secret of 
prolonging life, by means of which he had arrived to the great 
age of upwards of two centuries, though, as he did not dis- 
cover the secret until well stricken in years, he could only 
perpetuate his gray hairs and wrinkles. 

This wonderful old man was honorably entertained by the 
king, who, like most superannuated monarchs, began to take 
physicians into great favor. He would have assigned him an 
apartment in his palace, but the astrologer preferred a cave in 
the side of the hill which rises above the city of Granada, 
being the same on which the Alhambra has since been built. 
He caused the cave to be enlarged so as to form a spacious and 
lofty hall, with a circular hole at the top, through which, as 
through a well, he could see the heavens and behold the stars, 
even at midday. The walls of this hall were covered with 
Egyptian hieroglyphics, with cabalistic ^ symbols, and with 

1 trying position. * one of Mohammed's early proselytes, 

9 disturbances ; annoyances. and a great warrior. Died a.d. 663, 

» figures supposed to have a hidden sig- ' containing an occult or hidden vaem- 

nificance. ing. 



40 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

the figures of the stars in their signs. This hall he furnished 
with many implements, fabricated under his directions by 
cunning artificers ' of Granada, but the occult properties of 
which were known only to himself. 

In a little while the sage Ibrahim became the bosom counsel- 
lor of the king, who applied to him for advice in every emer- 
gency. Aben Habuz was once inveighing^ against the injus- 
tice of his neighbors, and bewailing the restless vigilance he 
had to observe to guard himself against their invasions; when 
he had finished, the astrologer remained silent for a moment, 
and then replied: *^ Know, king, that when I was in Egypt 
I beheld a great marvel devised by a pagan priestess of old. 
On a mountain, above the city of Borsa, and overlooking the 
great valley of the Nile, was a figure of a ram, and above it 
a figure of a cock, both of molten brass, and turning upon a 
pivot. Whenever the country was threatened with invasion, 
the ram would turn in the direction of the enemy, and the 
cock would crow ; upon this the inhabitants of the city knew 
of the danger, and of the quarter from which it was approach- 
ing, and could take timely means to guard against it." 

' ' God is great ! ' ' exclaimed the pacific Aben Habuz. ^ ' What 
a treasure would be such a ram to keep an eye upon these 
mountains around me; and then such a cock, to crow in time 
of danger! Allah Akbar! How securely I might sleep in my 
palace with such sentinels on the top! " 

The astrologer waited until the ecstasies of the king had 
subsided, and then proceeded. 

"After the victorious Amru (may he rest in peace!) had 
finished his conquest of Egypt, I remained among the priests 
of the land, studying the rites and ceremonies of their idola- 
trous faith, and seeking to make myself master of the hidden 
knowledge for which they are renowned. I Avas one day seated 
on the banks of the Nile, conversing with an ancient priest, 
when he pointed to the mighty pyramids which rose like 

» skilled workmen. « uttering censure. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 41 

mountains out of the neighboring desert. * All that we can 
teach thee,' said he, 'is nothing to the knowledge locked up 
in those mighty piles. In the centre of the central pyramid 
is a sepulchral chamber, in which is inclosed the mummy of 
the high priest who aided in rearing that stupendous pile ; and 
with him is buried a wondrous book of knowledge, containing 
all the secrets of magic and art. This book was given to 
Adam after his fall, and was handed down from generation to 
generation to King Solomon the wise, and by its aid he built 
the temple of Jerusalem. How it came into the possession 
of the builder of the pyramids is known to him alone who 
knows all things.' 

' ' When I heard these words of the Egyptian priest, my 
heart burned to get possession of that book. I could com- 
mand the services of many of the soldiers of our conquering 
army, and of a number of the native Egyptians; with these I 
set to work, and pierced the solid mass of the pyramid, until, 
after great toil, I came upon one of its interior and hidden 
passages. Following this up, and threading a fearful laby- 
rinth,^ I penetrated into the very heart of the pyramid, even 
to the sepulchral chamber, where the mummy of the high 
priest had lain for ages. I broke through the outer cases of 
the mummy, unfolded its many wrappers and bandages, and 
at length found the precious volume on its bosom. I seized 
it with a trembling hand, and groped my way out of the 
pyramid, leaving the mummy in its dark and silent sepul- 
chre, there to await the final day of resurrection and judg- 
ment." 

"Son of Abu Ayub," exclaimed Aben Habuz, 'Hhou hast 
been a great traveller, and hast seen marvellous things; but of 
what avail to me is the secret of the pyramid, and the volume 
of knowledge of the wise Solomon? " 

" This it is, king! By the study of that book I am in- 
Btructed in all magic arts, and can command the assistance of 

1 place with winding passages. 



42 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

genii ^ to accomplish my plans. The mystery of the Talisman 
of Borsa is therefore familiar to me, and such a talisman can I 
make; nay, one of greater yirtues. " 

"0 wise son of Abu Ayub," cried Aben Habuz, "better 
were such a talisman than all the watch towers on the hills, 
and sentinels upon the borders. Give me such a safeguard, 
and the riches of my treasury are at thy command." 

The astrologer immediately set to work to gratify the wishes 
of the monarch. He caused a great tower to be erected upon 
the top of the royal palace, which stood on the brow of the 
hill of the Albaycin. The tower was built of stones brought 
from Egypt, and taken, it is said, from one of the pyramids. 
In the upper part of the tower was a circular hall, with win- 
dows looking towards every point of the compass; and before 
each window was a table, on which was arranged, as on a chess- 
board, a mimic army of horse and foot, with the effigy of the 
potentate'^ that ruled in that direction, all carved of wood. 
To each of these tables there was a small lance, no bigger than 
a bodkin,^ on which were engraved certain Chaldaic" charac- 
ters. This hall was kept constantly closed by a gate of brass, 
with a great lock of steel, the key of which was in possession 
of the king. 

On the top of the tower was a bronze figure of a Moorish 
horseman, fixed on a pivot, with a shield on one arm, and his 
lance elevated perpendicularly. The face of this horseman 
was towards the city, as if keeping guard over it; but if any 
foe were at hand, the figure would turn in that direction, and 
would level the lance as if for action. 

When this talisman was finished, Aben Habuz was all impa- 
tient to try its virtues, and longed as ardently for an invasion 
as he had ever sighed after repose. His desire was soon grati- 
fied. Tidings were brought, early one morning, by the sen- 
tinel appointed to watch the tower, that the face of the bronze 

1 good or evil spirits supposed to preside 2 sovereign. » a large blunt needle, 

over a man's destiny. * pertaljaing to Gh^ldea. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 43 

horseman was turned towards the Mountains of Elvira/ and 
that his lance pointed directly against the Pass of Lope. 

*• Let the drums and trumpets sound to arms, and all Gra- 
nada he put on the alert," said Ahen Habuz. 

*'0 king," said the astrologer, "let not your city be dis- 
quieted, nor your warriors called to arms; we need no aid of 
force to deliver you from your enemies. Dismiss your attend- 
ants, and let us proceed alone to the secret hall of the tower. ' ' 

The ancient Aben Habuz mounted the staircase of the tower, 
leaning on the arm of the still more ancient Ibrahim Ebn 
Abu Ayub. They unlocked the brazen door and entered. 
The window that looked towards the Pass of Lope was open. 
*'In this direction," said the astrologer, "lies the danger. 
Approach, king, and behold the mystery of the table." 

King Aben Habuz approached the seeming chess-board, on 
which were arranged the small wooden effigies, when, to his 
surprise, he perceived that they were all in motion. The horses 
pranced and curvetted,^ the warriors brandished their weapons, 
and there was a faint sound of drums and trumpets, and the 
clang of arms, and neighing of steeds; but all no louder nor 
more distinct than the hum of the bee or the summer-fly in 
the drowsy ear of him who lies at noontide in the shade. 

"Behold, king," said the astrologer, "a proof that thy 
enemies are even now in the field. They must be advancing 
through yonder mountains, by the Pass of Lope. Would you 
produce a panic and confusion amongst them, and cause them 
to retreat without loss of life, strike these effigies with the butt- 
end of this magic lance; would you cause bloody feud and 
carnage, strike with the point." 

A livid streak passed across the countenance of Aben Habuz; 
he seized the lance with trembling eagerness; his gray beard 
wagged with exultation ^ as he tottered toward the table. " Son 
of Abu Ayub," exclaimed he, in chuckling tone, " I think we 
will have a little blood ! " 

I in southern Granada. * leaped. ' great joy or triumph. 



44 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

So saying, he thrust the magic lance into some of the 
pigmy ^ efi&gies/ and belabored others with the butt-end, 
upon which the former fell as dead upon the board, and the 
rest turning upon each other began, pell-mell, a chance-medley 
fight. 

It was with difficulty the astrologer could stay the hand of 
the most pacific of monarchs, and prevent him from absolutely 
exterminating his foes; at length he prevailed upon him to 
leave the tower, and to send out scouts to the mountains, by 
the Pass of Lope. 

They returned with the intelligence that a Christian army 
had advanced through the heart of the Sierra, almost within 
sight of Granada, where a dissension had broken out among 
them ; they had turned their weapons against each other, and 
after much slaughter had retreated over the border. 

Aben Habuz was transported with joy on thus proving the 
efficacy ''of the talisman. "At length," said he, "I shall 
lead a life of tranquillity, and have all my enemies in my 
power. wise son of Abu Ayub, what can I bestow on 
thee in reward for such a blessing ? ' ' 

"The wants of an old man and a philosopher, king, are 
few and simple; grant me but the means of fitting up my cave 
as a suitable hermitage, and I am content. ' ' 

" How noble is the moderation of the truly wise! " exclaimed 
Aben Habuz, secretly pleased at the cheapness of the recom- 
pense. He summoned his treasurer, and bade him dispense 
whatever sums might be required by Ibrahim to complete and 
furnish his hermitage. 

The astrologer now gave orders to have various chambers 
hewn out of the solid rock, so as to form ranges of apartments, 
connected with his astrological hall; these he caused to be 
furnished with luxurious ottomans and divans,* and the walls 
to be hung with the richest silks of Damascus. "I am an old 

1 very sm^L ' power ; abili^. 

2 figures ; images. * low, cushioned Bofas. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 45 

man," said he, *'and can no longer rest my bones on stone 
couches, and these damp walls require covering." 

He had baths, too, constructed, and provided with all kinds 
of perfumes and aromatic oils. "For a bath," said he, "is 
necessary to counteract the rigidity of age, and to restore 
freshness and suppleness to the frame withered by study." 

He caused the apartments to be hung with innumerable 
silver and crystal lamps, which he filled with a fragrant oil, 
prepared according to a receipt discovered by him in the tombs 
of Egypt. This oil was perpetual in its nature, and diffused 
a soft radiance like the tempered light of day. ' ' The light of 
the sun," said he, " is too gairish ^ and violent for the eyes of 
an old man, and the light of the lamp is more congenial ^ to 
the studies of a philosopher." 

The treasurer of King Aben Habuz groaned at the sums daily 
demanded to fit up this hermitage, and he carried his com- 
plaints to the king. The royal word, however, had been given; 
Aben Habuz shrugged his shoulders: "We must have 
patience," said he. "This old man has taken his idea of a 
philosophic retreat from the interior of the pyramids, and of 
the vast ruins of Egypt; but all things have an end, and so 
will the furnishing of the cavern." 

The king was right; the hermitage was at length complete, 
and formed a sumptuous subterranean ^ palace. The astrolo- 
ger expressed himself perfectly content, and, shutting himself 
up, remained for three whole days buried in study. At the 
end of that time he appeared again before the treasurer. 
" One thing more is necessary," said he; " one trifling solace 
for the intervals of mental labor." 

" wise Ibrahim, I am bound to furnish everything neces- 
sary for thy solitude; what more dost thou require ? " 

" I would fain have a few dancing women." 

" Dancing women ! " echoed the treasurer, with surprise. 

"Dancing women," replied the sage, gravely; "and let 

1 dazzling. ' adapted ; suited. 3 underground. 



46 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN; ASTROLOGER. 

them be young and fair to look iipon^ for the sight of youth 
and beauty is refreshing. A few will suffice, for I am a phil- 
osopher of simple habits, and easily satisfied. ' ' 

While the philosophic Ibrahim Ebn Abu Ayub passed his 
time thus sagely in his hermitage, the pacific Aben Habuz car- 
ried on furious campaigns in effigy in his tower. It was a 
glorious thing for an old man, like himself, of quiet habits, to 
have war made easy, and to he enabled to amuse himself in 
his chamber by brushing away whole armies like so many 
swarms of flies. 

For a time he rioted in the indulgence of his humors, and 
even taunted and insulted his neighbors, to induce them to 
make incursions ; but by degrees they grew wary from repeated 
disasters, until no one ventured to invade his territories. For 
many months the bronze horseman remained on the peace 
establishment, with his lance elevated in the air, and the 
worthy old monarch began to repine at the want of his accus- 
tomed sport, and to grow peevish at his monotonous^ tran- 
quillity. 

At length, one day, the talismanic horseman veered suddenly 
round, and, lowering his lance, made a dead point towards the 
mountains of Guadix. Aben Habuz hastened to his tower, 
but the magic table in that direction remained quiet; not a 
single warrior was in motion. Perplexed at the circumstance, 
he sent forth a troop of horse to scour the mountains and rec- 
onnoitre. They returned after three days' absence. 

^' We have searched every mountain pass," said they, ^'but 
not a helm nor spear was stirring. All that we have found in 
the course of our foray was a Christian damsel of surpassing 
beauty, sleeping at noontide beside a fountain, whom we have 
brought away captive. ' ' 

" A damsel of surpassing beauty! " exclaimed Aben Habuz, 
his eyes gleaming with animation; " let her be conducted into 
my presence." 

1 unvarying ; wearisome. 



LEGEND OF THE AKABIAN ASTROLOGER. 47 

The beautiful damsel was accordingly conducted into his 
presence. She was arrayed with all the luxury of ornament 
that had prevailed among the Gothic Spaniards at the time of 
the Arabian conquest. Pearls of dazzling whiteness were 
entwined with her raven tresses, and jewels sparkled on her 
foreliead, rivalling the lustre of her eyes. Around her neck 
was a golden chain, to which was suspended a silver lyre, which 
hung by her side. 

The flashes of her dark, refulgent ^ eye were like sparks of 
fire on the withered, yet combustible,^ heart of Aben Habuz; 
the swimming voluptuousness of her gait made his senses reel. 
*' Fairest of women," cried he, with rapture, ^*who and what 
art thou?" 

' ' The daughter of one of the Gothic princes, who but lately 
ruled over this land. The armies of my father have been 
destroyed, as if by magic, among these mountains ; he has been 
driven into exile, and his daughter is a captive. ' ' 

"Beware, king! " whispered Ibrahim Ebn Abu Ayub, 
'Hhis maybe one of these northern sorceresses of whom we 
have heard, who assume the most seductive forms to beguile 
the unwary. Methinks I read witchcraft in her eye, and sor- 
cery in every movement. Doubtless this is the enemy pointed 
out by the talisman." 

"Son of Abu Ayub," replied the king, "thou art a wise 
man, I grant; a conjurer, for aught I know; but thou art little 
versed in the ways of woman. In that knowledge will I yield 
to no man; no, not to the wise Solomon himself, notwith- 
standing the number of his wives and concubines. As to this 
damsel, I see no harm in her; she is fair to look upon, and 
finds favor in my eyes. ' ' 

" Hearken, king! " replied the astrologer. " I have given 
thee many victories by means of my talisman, but have never 
shared any of the spoil. Give me, then, this stray captive, to 
solace me in my solitude with her silver lyre. If she be indeed 

i bright. 2 easily talving fire ; excitable. 



48 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

a sorceress, I have counter spells that set her charms at defi- 
ance." 

"What! more women!" cried Aben Habuz. "Hast thou 
not already dancing women enough to solace thee ? " 

" Dancing women have I, it is true, but no singing women. 
I would fain have a little minstrelsy to refresh my mind when 
weary with the toils of study." 

"A truce with thy hermit cravings," said the king, impa- 
tiently. "This damsel have I marked for my own. I see 
much comfort in her; even such comfort as David, the father 
of Solomon the wise, found in the society of Abishag^ the 
Shunamite." 

Further solicitations'"* and remonstrances of the astrologer 
only provoked a more peremptory ^ reply from the monarch, 
and they parted in high displeasure. The sage shut himself 
up in his hermitage to brood over his disappointment ; ere he 
departed, however, he gave the king one more warning to 
beware of his dangerous captive. But where is the old man in 
love that will listen to counsel ? Aben Habuz resigned himself 
to the full sway of his passion. His only study was how to 
render himself amiable in the eyes of the Gothic beauty. He 
had not youth to recommend him, it is true, but then he had 
riches; and when a lover is old, he is generally generous. The 
Zacatin of Granada was ransacked for the most precious mer- 
chandise of the East — silks, jewels, precious gems, exquisite 
perfumes, all that Asia and Africa yielded of rich and rare, 
were lavished upon the princess. All kinds of spectacles and 
festivities were devised for her entertainment — minstrelsy, 
dancing, tournaments, bull-fights. Granada for a time was a 
scene of perpetual pageant. The Gothic princess regarded all 
this splendor with the air of one accustomed to magnificence. 
She received every thing as a homage due to her rank, or rather 
to her beauty; for beauty is more lofty in its exactions, even, 
than rank. Nay, she seemed to take a secret pleasure in excit- 

1 see Bible, 1 Kings i. 3. " entreaties. 3 "csitive. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 49 

ing the monarch to expenses that made his treasury shrink, 
and then treating his extravagant generosity as a mere matter 
of course. With all his assiduity ' and munificence, also, the 
venerable lover could not flatter himself that he had made any 
impression on her heart. She never frowned on him, it is true, 
but then she never smiled. Whenever he began to plead his 
passion, she struck her silver lyre. There was a mystic charm 
in the sound. In an instant the monarch began to nod; a 
drowsiness stole over him, and he gradually sank into a sleep, 
from which he awoke wonderfully refreshed, but perfectly 
cooled for the time of his passion. This was very baffling to 
his suit; but then these slumbers were accompanied by agree- 
able dreams, which completely enthralled ^ the senses of the 
drowsy lover; so he continued to dream on, while all G-ranada 
scoffed at his infatuation,^ and groaned at the treasures lav- 
ished for a song. 

At length a danger burst on the head of Aben Habuz, against 
which his talisman yielded him no warning. An insurrection 
broke out in his very capital; his palace was surrounded by an 
armed rabble who menaced * his life and the life of his Chris- 
tian paramour. A spark of his ancient warlike spirit w^as 
awakened in the breast of the monarch. At the head of a 
handful of his guards he sallied forth, put the rebels to flight, 
and crushed the insurrection in the bud. 

W^hen quiet was again restored, he sought the astrologer, 
who still remained shut up in his hermitage, chewing the 
bitter cud of resentment. 

Aben Habuz approached him with a conciliatory^ tone. 
" wise son of Abu Ayub," said he, " well didst thou predict 
dangers to me from this captive beauty. Tell me, then, thou 
who art so quick at foreseeing peril, what should I do to avert 
it?" 

" Put from thee the infidel damsel who is the cause." 

» devoted attention. ^ folly. * threatened. 

2 held captive. ' tending to gain favor. 

4 



50 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

"Sooner would I part with my kingdom/' cried Aben 
Habuz. 

" Thou art in danger of losing both," replied the astrologer. 

" Be not harsh and angry, most profound of philosophers; 
consider the double distress of a monarch and a lover, and 
devise some means of protecting me from the evils by which I 
am menaced. I care not for grandeur; I care not for power; I 
languish only for repose. Would that I had some quiet retreat 
where I might take refuge from the world and all its cares 
and pomps and troubles, and devote the remainder of my days 
to tranquillity and love! " 

The astrologer regarded him for a moment from under his 
bushy eyebrows. 

" And what wouldst thou give, if I could provide thee such 
a retreat? " 

"Thou shouldst name thy own reward; and whataver it 
might be, if within the scope of my power, as my soul liveth, 
it should be thine. ' ' 

"Thou hast heard, king, of the garden of Irem, one of 
the prodigies of Arabia the happy." 

" I have heard of that garden; it is recorded in the Koran,* 
even in the chapter entitled ' The Dawn of Day. ' I have, 
moreover, heard marvellous things related of it by pilgrims 
who have been to Mecca; ^ but I considered them wild fables, 
such as travellers are wont to tell who have visited remote 
countries." 

"Discredit not, king, the tales of travellers," rejoined 
the astrologer, gravely, "for they contain precious rarities of 
knowledge brought from the ends of the earth. As to the 
palace and garden of Irem, what is generally told of them is 
true; I have seen them with mine own eyes. Listen to my 
adventure, for it has a bearing upon the object of your request. 

"In my younger days, when a mere Arab of the desert, I 

* Mohammedan scriptures. 

3 most celebrated city of Arabia, the seat of the Mohammedan religion. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 51 

tended my father's camels. In traversing the desert of Aden, 
one of them strayed from the rest, and was lost. I searched 
after it for several days, but in vain, until, wearied and faint, 
I laid myself down at noontide, and slept under a palm-tree 
by the side of a scanty well. When I awoke, I found myself 
at the gate of a city. I entered, and beheld noble streets and 
squares and market-places; but all were silent, and without an 
inhabitant. I wandered on until I came to a sumptuous palace 
with a garden adorned with fountains and fish-ponds, and groves 
and flowers, and orchards laden with delicious fruit; but still 
no one was to be seen. Upon which, appalled ^ at this loneli- 
ness, I hastened to depart; and, after issuing forth at the gate 
of the city, I turned to look upon the place, but it was no longer 
to be seen; nothing but the silent desert extended before my 
eyes. 

" In the neighborhood I met with an ancient dervise,^ learned 
in the traditions and secrets of the land, and related to him 
what had befallen me. ' This, ' said he, ' is the far-famed 
garden of Irem, one of the wonders of the desert. It only 
appears at times to some wanderer like thyself, gladdening him 
with the sight of towers and palaces, and garden walls overhung 
with richly-laden fruit-trees, and then vanishes, leaving noth- 
ing but a lonely desert. And this is the story of it. In old 
times, when this country was inhabited by the Addites, King 
Sheddad, the son of Ad, the great grandson of Noah, founded 
here a splendid city. When it was finished, and he saw its 
grandeur, his heart was puffed up with pride and arrogance,^ 
and he determined to build a royal palace, with gardens which 
should rival all related in the Koran of the celestial paradise. 
But the curse of heaven fell upon him for his presumption." 
He and his subjects were swept from the earth, and his splen- 
did city and palace and gardens were laid under a perpetual 

1 terrified ; frightened. * blind, headstxong confidence or self- 

2 Turkish or Persian monk. assertion, 
* proud contempt of others ; conceit. 



52 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

spell^ which hides them from human sight, excepting that they 
are seen at intervals, by way of keeping his sin in perpetual 
remembrance. ' 

'^This story, king, and the wonders I had seen, ever 
dwelt in my mind; and, in after years, when I had been in 
Egypt, and was possessed of the book of knowledge of Solo- 
mon the wise, I determined to return and revisit the garden of 
Irem. I did so, and found it revealed to my instructed sight. 
I took possession of the palace of Sheddad, and passed several 
days in his mock paradise. The genii who watch over the 
place were obedient to my magic power, and revealed to me 
the spells by which the whole garden had been, as it were, 
conjured into existence, and by which it was rendered invisi- 
ble. Such a palace and garden, king, can I make for thee, 
even here, on the mountain above thy city. Do I not know 
all the secret spells ? and am I not in possession of the book of 
knowledge of Solomon the wise ? ' ' 

'^ wise son of Abu Ayub! " exclaimed Aben Habuz, trem- 
bling with eagerness, " thou art a traveller indeed, and hast 
seen and learned marvellous things ! Contrive me such a para- 
dise, and ask any reward, even to the half of my kingdom." 

"Alas!" replied the other, "thou knowest I am an old 
man, and a philosopher, and easily satisfied ; all the reward I 
ask is the first beast of burden, with its load, which shall enter 
the magic portal of the palace. ' ' 

The monarch gladly agreed to so moderate a stipulation,^ 
and the astrologer began his work. On the summit of the 
hill, immediately above his subterranean hermitage, he caused 
a great gateway or barbican to be erected, opening through the 
centre of a strong tower. 

There was an outer vestibule, or porch, with a lofty arch, 
and within it a portal secured by massive gates. On the key- 
stone of the portal the astrologer, with his own hand, wrought 
the figure of a huge key; and on the keystone of the outer 

1 price agreed upon. 



LEGEND OF THE AKABIAN ASTROLOGER. 53 

arch of the vestibule, which was loftier than that of the 
portal, he carved a gigantic hand. These were potent talis- 
mans, over which he repeated many sentences in an unknown 
tongue. 

When this gateway was finished he shut himself up for two 
days in his astrological hall, engaged in secret incantations ; ^ 
on the third he ascended the hill, and passed the whole day on 
its summit. At a late hour of the night he came down and 
presented himself before Aben Habuz. " At length, king," 
said he, " my labor is accomplished. On the summit of the 
hill stands one of the most delectable^ palaces that ever the 
head of man devised, or the heart of man desired. It con- 
tains sumptuous halls and galleries, delicious gardens, cool 
fountains, and fragrant baths; in a word, the whole mountain 
is converted into a paradise. Like the garden of Irem, it is 
protected by a mighty charm, which hides it from the view 
and search of mortals, excepting such as possess the secret of 
its talismans." 

"Enough!" cried Aben Habuz, joyfully; "to-morrow 
morning with the first light we will ascend and take posses- 
sion." The happy monarch slept but little that night. 
Scarcely had the rays of the sun began to play about the snowy 
summit of the Sierra Nevada, when he mounted his steed, 
and, accompanied only by a few chosen attendants, ascended a 
steep and narrow road leading up the hill. Beside him, on a 
white palfrey,^ rode the Gothic princess, her whole dress 
sparkling with jewels, while round her neck was suspended her 
silver lyre. The astrologer walked on the other side of the 
king, assisting his steps with his hieroglyphic stafi, for he never 
mounted steed of any kind. 

Aben Habuz looked to see the towers of the palace brighten- 
ing above him, and the embowered terraces of its gardens 
stretching along the heights; but as yet nothing of the kind 
was to be descried. "That is the mystery and safeguard of 

1 acts of enchantment. ^ highly pleasing. 3 a small horse suitable for ladies. 



54 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

the place/' said the astrologer; "nothing can be discerned 
until yon have passed the spellbound gateway, and been put 
in possession of the place. " 

As they approached the gateway, the astrologer paused, 
and pointed out to the king the mystic hand and key carved 
upon the portal of the arch. '^ These," said he, "are the 
talismans which guard the entrance to this paradise. Until 
yonder hand shall reach down and seize that key, neither 
mortal power nor magic artifice can prevail against the lord 
of this mountain. " 

While Aben Habuz was gazing, with open mouth and silent 
wonder, at these mystic talismans, the palfrey of the princess 
proceeded, and bore her in at the portal, to the very centre of 
the barbican. 

"Behold," cried the astrologer, "my promised reward — the 
first animal with its burden which should enter the magic 
gateway. ' ' 

Aben Habuz smiled at what he considered a pleasantry of 
the ancient man ; but when he found him to be in earnest, his 
gray beard trembled with indignation. 

" Son of Abu Ayub," said he sternly, "what equivocation^ 
is this ? Thou knowest the meaning of my promise, the first 
beast of burden with its load that should enter this portal. 
Take the strongest mule in my stables, load it with the most 
precious things of my treasury, and it is thine; but dare not 
raise thy thoughts to her who is the delight of my heart." 

" What need I of wealth ? " cried the astrologer, scornfully; 
" have I not the book of knowledge of Solomon the wise, and 
through it the command of the secret treasures of the earth? 
The princess is mine by right; thy royal word is pledged; I 
claim her as my own." 

The princess looked down haughtily from her palfrey, and 
a light smile of scorn curled her rosy lip at this dispute between 
two gray-beards for the possession of youth and beauty. The 

1 the use of words with a double meaning with intent to mislead. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTEOLOGEB. 56 

wratli of the monarch got the better of his discretion/ '' Base 
son of the desert/' said he, "thou may'st be master of many 
arts, but know me for thy master, and presume not to juggle 
with thy king." 

"My master! my king!" echoed the astrologer. "The 
monarch of a mole-hill to claim sway over him who possesses 
the talismans of Solomon ! Farewell, Aben Habuz ! Reign over 
thy petty kingdom, and revel in thy paradise of fools ; for me, 
I will laugh at thee in my philosophic retirement." 

So saying, he seized the bridle of the palfrey, smote the earth 
with his staff, and sank with the Gothic princess through the 
centre of the barbican. The earth closed over them, and no 
trace remained of the opening by which they had descended. 

Aben Habuz was struck dumb for a time with astonishment. 
Eecovering himself, he ordered a thousand workm^ to dig, 
with pickaxe and spade, into the ground where the astrologer 
had disappeared. They digged and digged, but in vain; the 
flinty bosom of the hill resisted their implements; or if they 
did penetrate a little way, the eartli filled in again as fast as 
they threw it out. Aben Habuz sought the mouth of the cav- 
ern at the foot of the hill, leading to the subterranean palace 
of the astrologer, but it was nowhere to be found. AVhere 
once had been an entrance, was now a solid surface of primeval 
rock. With the disappearance of Ibrahim Ebn Abu Ayub 
ceased the benefit of his talismans. The bronze horseman 
remained fixed, with his face turned toward the hill, and his 
spear pointed to the spot where the astrologer had descended, 
as if there still lurked the deadliest foe of Aben Habuz. 

From time to time the sound of music and the tones of a 
female voice could be faintly heard from the bosom of the hill ; 
and a peasant one day brought word to the king that, in the 
preceding night, he had found a fissure in the rock, by which 
he had crept in until he looked down into a subterranean hall, 
in which sat the astrologer, on a magnificent divan, slumbering 

I judgment. 



56 LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 

and nodding to the silver lyre of the princess, which seemed 
to hold a magic sway over his senses. 

Aben Habuz sought the fissure in the rock, but it was again 
closed. He renewed the attempt to unearth his rival, but all 
in vain. The spell of the hand and key was too potent to be 
counteracted by human power. As to the summit of the 
mountain, the site of the promised palace and garden, it 
remained a naked waste; either the boasted elysium^ was 
hidden from sight by enchantment, or was a mere fable of the 
astrologer. The world charitably supposed the latter; and 
some used to call the place *' The King's Folly," while others 
named it " The Fool's Paradise." 

To add to the chagrin ^ of Aben Habuz, the neighbors whom 
he had defied and taunted and cut up at his leisure while master 
of the tafismanic horseman, finding him no longer protected 
by magic spell, made inroads into his territories from all sides, 
and the remainder of the life of the most pacific of monarch s 
was a tissue of turmoils. 

At length Aben Habuz died and was buried. Ages have 
since rolled away. The Alhambra has been built on the event- 
ful mountain, and in some measure realizes the fabled delights 
of the garden of Irem. The spellbound gateway still exists 
entire, protected, no doubt, by the mystic hand and key, and 
now forms the Gate of Justice, the grand entrance to the 
fortress. Under that gateway, it is said, the old astrologer 
remains in his subterranean hall, nodding on his divan, lulled 
by the silver lyre of the princess. 

The old invalid sentinels who mount guard at the gate hear 
the strains occasionally in the summer nights, and, yielding 
to their soporific ^ power, doze quietly at their posts. Nay, so 
drowsy an influence pervades the place, that even those who 
watch by day may generally be seen nodding on the stone 
benches of the barbican, or sleeping under the neighboring 
trees; so that in fact it is the drowsiest military post in all 

1 happy dwelling place. ^ vexation. =• sleep producing. 



LEGEND OF THE ARABIAN ASTROLOGER. 57 

Christendom. All this, say the ancient legends, will endure 
from age to age. The princess will remain captive to the 
astrologer, and the astrologer bound up in magic slumber by 
the princess, until the last day, unless the mystic hand shall 
grasp the fated key, and dispel the whole charm of this 
enchanted mountain. 



LEGEND OF PEINCE AHMED AL KAMEL; 

OB, THE PILGRIM OF LOYE. 

There was once a Moorish king of Granada, who had but 
one son, whom he named Ahmed, to which his courtiers added 
the surname of al Kamel, or the perfect, from the indubitable ' 
signs of superexcellence '^ which they perceived in him in his 
very infancy. The astrologers countenanced them in their 
foresight, predicting every thing in his favor that could make 
a perfect prince and a prosperous sovereign. One cloud only 
rested upon his destiny, and even that was of a roseate hue; 
he would be of an amorous ^ temperament, and run great perils 
from the tender passion. If, however, he could be kept from 
the allurements of love until of mature age, these dangers 
would be averted, and his life thereafter be one uninterrupted 
course of felicity.'' 

To prevent all danger of the kind, the king wisely deter- 
mined to rear the prince in a seclusion where he should never 
see a female face, nor hear even the name of love. For this 
purpose he built a beautiful palace on the brow of the hill, 
above the Alhambra, in the midst of delightful gardens, but 
surrounded by lofty walls, being, in fact, the same palace 
known at the present day by the name of the Generalife. In 
this palace the youthful prince was shut up, and intrusted to 
the guardianship and instruction of Eben Bonabben, one of 
the wisest and dryest of Arabian sages, who had passed the 
greatest part of his life in Egypt, studying hieroglyphics, and 
making researches among the tombs and pyramids, and who 
saw more charms in an Egyptian mummy than in the most 

1 too plain to admit of doubt. * loving. 

2 merit beyond the ordinary. •• happiness. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 59 

tempting of living beauties. The sage was ordered to instruct 
the prince in all kinds of knowledge but one — he was to be 
kept utterly ignorant of love. " Use eyery precaution for the 
purpose you may think proper," naid the king; "but remem- 
ber, Eben Bonabben, if my son learns aught of that for- 
bidden knowledge while under your care, your head shall 
answer for it." A withered smile came over the dry visage of 
the wise Bonabben at the menace. " Let your majesty's heart 
be as easy about your son as mine is about my head; am I a 
man likely to give lessons in the idle passion ? ' ' 
* Under the vigilant care of the philosopher, the prince grew 
up in the seclusion of the palace and its gardens. He had 
black slaves to attend upon him — hideous mutes who knew 
nothing of love, or, if they did, had not words to communicate 
it. His mental endowments were the peculiar care of Eben 
Bonabben, who sought to initiate him into the abstruse lore of 
Egypt; but in this the prince made little progress, and it was 
soon evident that he had no turn for philosophy. 

He was, however, amazingly ductile ^ for a youthful prince, 
ready to follow any advice, and always guided by the last 
counsellor. He suj)pressed his yawns, and listened patiently 
to the long and learned discourses of Eben Bonabben, from 
which he imbibed ^ a smattering of various kinds of knowl- 
edge, and thus happily attained his twentieth year, a miracle 
of princely wisdom, but totally ignorant of love. 

About this time, however, a change came over the conduct 
of the prince. He completely abandoned his studies, and took 
to strolling about the gardens, and musing by the sides of the 
fountains. He had been taught a little music among his vari- 
ous accomplishments; it now engrossed a great part of his time, 
and a turn for poetry became apparent. The sage Eben Bonab- 
ben took the alarm, and endeavored to work these idle humors 
out of him by a severe course of algebra; but the prince turned 
from it with distaste. "I cannot endure algebra," said he; 

i easily led. . * drank in. 



60 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

*4t is an abomination to me. I want something that speaks 
more to the heart." 

The sage Eben Bonabben shook his dry head at the words. 
*'Here is an end to philosophy/' thought he. "The prince 
has discovered he has a heart." He now kept anxious watch 
upon his pupil, and saw that the latent tenderness of his 
nature was in activity, and only wanted an object. He wan- 
dered about the gardens of the Generalife in an intoxication 
of feelings of which he knew not the cause. Sometimes he 
would sit plunged in a delicious reverie; ^ then he would seize 
his lute, and draw from it the most touching notes, and then 
throw it aside, and break forth into sighs and ejaculations. 

By degrees this loving disposition began to extend to inani- 
mate objects. He had his favorite flowers, which he cherished 
with tender assiduity; then he became attached to various 
trees, and there was one in particular, of a graceful form and 
drooping foliage, on which he lavished his amorous devotion, 
carving his name on its bark, hanging garlands on its branches, 
and singing couplets in its praise, to the accompaniment of his 
lute. 

Eben Bonabben was alarmed at this excited state of his 
pupil. He saw him on the very brink of forbidden knowledge ; 
the least hint might reveal to him the fatal secret. Trem- 
bling for the safety of the prince and the security of his own 
head, he hastened to draw him from the seductions of the 
garden, and shut him up in the highest tower of the Gener- 
alife. It contained beautiful apartments, and commanded an 
almost boundless prospect, but was elevated far above that 
atmosphere of sweets and those witching bowers so dangerous 
to the feelings of the too susceptible ^ Ahmed. 

What was to be done, however, to reconcile him to this 
restraint, and to beguile the tedious hours ? He had exhausted 
almost all kinds of agreeable knowledge, and algebra was not 
to be mentioned. Fortunately Eben Bonabben had been 

1 irregular train of thought ; musing. " impressible ; easily influenced. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 61 

instructed, when in Egypt, in the language of birds, by a 
Jewish Rabbin, who had received it in lineal ' transmission 
from Solomon the wise, who had been taught it by the Queen 
of Sheba. At the very mention of such a study, the eyes of 
the prince sparkled with animation, and he applied himself to 
it with such avidity,'' that he soon became as great an adept ^ 
as his master. 

The tower of Generalife was no longer a solitude; .he had 
companions at hand with whom he could converse. The first 
acquaintance he formed was with a hawk, who built his nest 
in the crevice of the lofty battlements, whence he soared far 
and wide in quest of prey. The prince, however, found little 
to like or esteem in him. He was a mere pirate of the air, 
swaggering and boastful, whose talk was all about rapine and 
carnage and desperate exploits. 

His next acquaintance was an owl, a mighty wise-looking 
bird, with a huge head and staring eyes, who sat blinking and 
goggling all day in a hole in the wall, but roamed forth at 
night. He had great pretensions to wisdom, talked something 
of astrology and the moon, and hinted at the dark sciences; 
he was grievously given to metaphysics," and the prince found 
his prosings even more ponderous than those of the sage Eben 
Bonabben. 

Then there was a bat, that hung all day by his heels in the 
dark corner of a vault, but sallied out in slipshod style at twi- 
light. He, however, had but twilight ideas on all subjects, 
derided things of which he had taken but an imperfect view, 
and seemed to take delight in nothing. 

Besides these there was a swallow, with whom the prince was 
at first much taken. He was a smart talker, but restless, 
bustling, and for ever on the wing; seldom remaining long 
enough for any continued conversation. He turned out in the 

* descending in a direct line from an an- 3 one fully skilled in any art. 
cestor. * scientific knowledge of the mind and its 

2 eagerness. workings. 



62 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

end to be a mere smatterer^ who did but skim over the sur- 
face of things, pretending to know every thing, but knowing 
nothing thoroughly. 

These were the only feathered associates with whom the 
prince had any opportunity of exercising his newly acquired 
language; the tower was too high for any other birds to fre- 
quent it. He soon grew weary of his new acquaintances, whose 
conversation spoke so little to the head, and nothing to the 
heart, and gradually relapsed into his loneliness. A winter 
passed away; spring opened, with all its bloom and verdure and 
breathing sweetness, and the happy time arrived for birds to 
pair and build their nests. Suddenly, as it were, a universal 
burst of song and melody broke forth from the groves and 
gardens of the Generalife, and reached the prince in the soli- 
tude of his tower. From every side he heard the same uni- 
versal theme — love — love — love — chanted forth, and responded 
to it in every variety of note and tone. The prince listened 
in silence and perplexity. " What can be this love," thought 
he, "of which the world seems so full, and of which I know 
nothing ? ' ' He applied for information to his friend the 
hawk. The ruffian bird answered in atone of scorn: "You 
must apply," said he, "to the vulgar peaceable birds of the 
earth, who are made for the prey of us princes of the air. My 
trade is war, and fighting my delight. I am a warrior, and 
know nothing of this thing called love." 

The prince turned from him with disgust, and sought the 
owl in his retreat. "This is a bird," said he, "of peaceful 
habits, and may be able to solve my question." So he asked 
the owl to tell him what was this love about which all the 
birds in the groves below were singing. 

Upon this, the owl put on a look of oif ended dignity. " My 
nights," said he, "are taken up in study and research, and 
my days in ruminating in my cell upon all that I have learnt. 
As to these singing birds of whom you talk, I never listen to 
them; I despise them and their themes. Allah be praised, I 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 63 

cannot sing! I am a philosopher, and know nothing of this 
thing called love." 

The prince now repaired to the vanlt, where his friend the 
bat was hanging by the heels/ and propounded the same ques- 
tion. The bat wrinkled np his nose into a most snappish 
expression. ''Why do you disturb me in my morning's nap 
with such an idle question? " said he^ peevishly. " I only fly 
by twilight^ when all birds are asleej), and never trouble myself 
with their concerns. I am neither bird nor beast, and I thank 
heaven for it. I have found out the villainy of the whole lot of 
them, and hate them one and all. In a word, I am a misan- 
thrope,^ and know nothing of this thing called love." 

As a last resort, the prince now sought the swallow, and 
stopped him just as he was circling about the summit of the 
tower. The swallow, as usual, was in a prodigious ^ hurry, and 
had scarce time to make a reply. " Upon my word," said he, 
"I have so much public business to attend to, and so many 
pursuits to follow, that I have had no time to think on the 
subject. I have every day a thousand visits to pay; a thousand 
affairs of importance to examine into, that leave me not a 
moment of leisure for these little sing-song matters. In a 
word, I am a citizen of the world; I know nothing of this 
thing called love." So sa3dng, the swallow dived into the 
valley, and was out of sight in a moment. 

The prince remained disappointed and perplexed, but with 
his curiosity still more piqued ^ by the difficulty of gratifying 
it. While in this mood, his ancient guardian entered the tower. 
The prince advanced eagerly to meet him. " 0, Eben Bonab- 
ben," cried he, "thou hast revealed to me much of the wis- 
dom of the earth; but there is one thing of which I remain in 
utter ignorance, and would fain be informed." 

" My prince has but to make the inquiry, and every thing 
within the limited range of his servant's intellect is at his 
command." 

1 hater of mankind. 2 marvellous ; very unusual. » offended ; displeased. 



6-i LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

*' Tell me, then, most profound of sages, what is the 
nature of this thing called love ? ' ' 

Eben Bonabben was struck as with a thunderbolt. He 
trembled and turned pale, and felt as if his head sat but 
loosely on his shoulders. 

' ' What could suggest such a question to my prince. Where 
could he have learnt so idle a word ? " 

The prince led him to the window of the tower. " Listen, 
Eben Bonabben," said he. The sage listened. The night- 
ingale sat in a thicket below the tower, singing to his para- 
mour ^ the rose; from every blossomed spray and tufted grove 
rose a strain of melody; and love — love — love — was still the 
unvarying strain. 

"Allah Akbar! Grod is great! " exclaimed the wise Bonab- 
ben. " Who shall pretend to keep this secret from the heart 
of man, when even the birds of the air conspire to betray 
it?" 

Then turning to Ahmed, " my prince," cried he, "shut 
thine ears to these seductive strains. Close thy mind against 
this dangerous knowledge. Know that this love is the cause 
of half the ills of wretched mortality. It is this which pro- 
duces bitterness and strife between brethren and friends ; which 
causes treacherous murder and desolating war. Care and sor- 
row, weary days and sleepless nights are its attendants. It 
withers the bloom and blights the joys of youth, and brings on 
the ills and griefs of premature ^ old age. Allah preserve thee, 
my prince, in total ignorance of this thing called love! " 

The sage Eben Bonabben hastily retired, leaving the prince 
plunged in still deeper perplexity. It was in vain he attempted 
to dismiss the subject from his mind; it still continued upper- 
most in his thoughts, and teased and exhausted him with vain 
conjectures. Surely, said he to himself, as he listened to the 
tuneful strains of the birds, there is no sorrow in those notes; 
every thing seems tenderness and joy. If love be a cause of 

1 loved one. ^ coming before the proper time. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 65 

such wretchedness and strife, why are not these birds drooping 
in solitude, or tearing each other in pieces, instead of flutter- 
ing cheerfully about the groves, or sporting with each other 
among flowers ? 

He lay one morning on his couch, meditating on this inex- 
plicable ' matter. The window of his chamber was open to 
admit the soft morning breeze, which came laden with the 
perfume of orange blossoms from the valley of the Darro. The 
voice of the nightingale was faintly heard, still chanting the 
wonted ^ theme. As the prince was listening and sighing, 
there was a sudden rushing noise in the air; a beautiful dove, 
pursued by a hawk, darted in at the window, and fell panting 
on the floor; while the pursuer, balked ' of his prey, soared 
off to the mountains. 

The prince took up the gasping bird, smoothed its feathers, 
and nestled it in his bosom. When he had soothed it by his 
caresses, he put it in a golden cage, and offered it, with his 
own hands, the whitest and finest of wheat, and the purest of 
water. The bird, however, refused food, and sat drooping 
and pining, and uttering piteous moans. 

" What aileth thee? " said Ahmed. " Hast thou not every 
thing thy heart can wish ? " 

''Alas, no! " replied the dove; "am I not separated from 
the partner of my heart, and that too in the happy spring- 
time, the very season of love ! ' ' 

" Of love! " echoed Ahmed; " I pray thee, my pretty bird, 
canst thou tell me what is love ? ' ' 

" Too well can I, my prince. It is the torment of one, the 
felicity of two, the strife and enmity of three. It is a 
charm which draws two beings together, and unites them by 
delicious sympathies, making it happiness to be with each 
other, but misery to be apart. Is there no being to whom you 
are drawn by these ties of tender affection ? " 

" I like my old teacher Eben Bonabben better than any other 

' that cannot be explained or made clear. ^ usual. s disappointed ; frastrated. 

5 



bb LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEK 

being; but he is often tedious, and I occasionally feel myself 
happier without his society." 

" That is not the sympathy I mean. I speak of love, the 
great mystery and principle of life; the intoxicating revel of 
youth; the sober delight of age. Look forth^ my prince, and 
behold how, at this blest season, all nature is full of love. 
Every created being has its mate; the most insignificant bird 
sings to its paramour; the very beetle wooes its lady-beetle in 
the dust, and yon butterflies which you see fluttering high above 
the tower, and toying in the air, are happy in each other's 
loves. Alas, my prince ! hast thou spent so many of the pre- 
cious days of youth without knowing any thing of love ? Is 
there no gentle being of another sex — no beautiful princess 
nor lovely damsel — who has ensnared your heart, and filled 
your bosom with a soft tumult of pleasing pains and tender 
wishes ? " 

" I begin to understand," said the prince, sighing. '^ Such 
a tumult I have more than once experienced, without knowing 
the cause; and where should I seek for an object such as you 
describe, in this dismal solitude? " 

A little further conversation ensued, and the first amatory 
lesson of the prince was complete. 

'^ Alas! " said he, ^'if love be indeed such a delight, and its 
interruption such a misery, Allah forbid that I should mar the 
joy of any of its votaries." He opened the cage, took out the 
dove, and having fondly kissed it, carried it to the window. 
*' Go, happy bird," said he; " rejoice with the partner of thy 
heart in the days of youth and spring-time. Why should I 
make thee a fellow-prisoner in this dreary tower, where love 
can never enter? " 

The dove flapped its wings in rapture, gave one vault into 
the air, and then swooped downward on whistling wings to the 
blooming bowers of the Darro. 

The prince followed him with his eyes, and then gave way 
to bitter repining. The singing of the birds, which once 



LEGEND OF PKINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 67 



delighted liim, now added to his bitterness. Love ! love ! love ! 
Alas, poor youth ! he now understood the strain. 

His eyes flashed fire when next he beheld the sage Bonabben. 
" Why hast thou kei^t me in this abject ignorance ? " cried he. 
*' Wiiy has the great mystery and principle of life been with- 
held from me, in which I find the meanest insect is so learned ? 
Behold all nature is a revel of delight. Every created being 
rejoices with its mate. This — this is the love about which I 
have sought instruction. Why am I alone debarred its enjoy- 
ment ? Why has so much of my youth been wasted without a 
knowledge of its raptures ? ' ' 

The sage Bonabben saw that all further reserve was useless, 
for the prince had acquired the dangerous and forbidden 
knowledge. He revealed to him, therefore, the predictions of 
the astrologers, and the precautions that had been taken in his 
education to avert ^ the threatened evils. "And now, my 
prince," added he, '^my life is in your hands. Let the king 
your father discover that you have learned the passion of love 
while under my guardianship, and my head must answer for 
it." 

The prince was as reasonable as most young men of his age, 
and easily listened to the remonstrances ^ of his tutor, since 
nothing pleaded against them. Besides, he really was attached 
to Eben Bonabben, and being as yet but theoretically ^ ac- 
quainted with the passion of love, he consented to confine the 
knowledge of it to his own bosom, rather than endanger the 
head of the philosopher. 

His discretion was doomed, however, to be put to still fur- 
ther proofs. A few mornings aferwards, as he was ruminating * 
on the battlements of the tower, the dove which had been 
released by him came hovering in the air, and alighted fear- 
lessly upon his shoulder. 

The prince fondled it to his heart. " Happy bird," said he. 



1 turn aside, s Hjy theory ; not practically. 

2 objections. * thinking over again and again. 



68 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

*^ who can fly, as it were with tlie wings of the morning, to the 
uttermost parts of the earth. Where hast thou been since we 
parted?" 

'' In a far country, my prince, whence I bring you tidings in 
reward for my liberty. In the Avild compass of my flight, 
which extends over plain and mountain, as I was soaring in 
the air, I beheld below me a delightful garden with all kinds of 
fruits and flowers. It was in a green meadow, on the banks 
of a wandering stream; and in the centre of the garden was a 
stately palace. I alighted in one of the bowers to repose after 
my weary flight. On the green bank below me was a youthful 
princess, in the very sweetness and bloom of her years. She 
was surrounded by female attendants, young like herself, who 
decked her with garlands and coronets ^ of flowers; but no 
flower of field or garden could compare with her for loveliness. 
Here, however, she bloomed in secret, for the garden was sur- 
rounded by high walls, and no mortal man was permitted to 
enter. When I beheld this beauteous maid, thus young and 
innocent and unspotted by the world, I thought, here is the 
being formed by heaven to inspire my prince with love." 

The description was a spark of fire to the combustible heart 
of Ahmed ; all the latent amorousness of his temperament had 
at once found an object, and he conceived an immeasurable 
passion for the j^rincess. He wrote a letter, couched in the 
most impassioned language, breathing his fervent devotion, 
but bewailing the unhappy thraldom of his person, which 
prevented him from seeking her out and throwing himself at 
her feet. He added couplets of the most tender and moving 
eloquence, for he was a poet by nature, and inspired by love. 
He addressed his letter, ''To the unknown beauty, from the 
captive prince Ahmed;" then, perfuming it with musk and 
roses, he gave it to the dove. 

"Away, trustiest of messengers," said he. *^Fly over 
mountain and valley, and river and plain ; rest not in bower, 

1 crowns. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 69 

nor set foot on earth, until thou hast given this letter to the 
mfstress of my heart." 

The dove soared high in air, and, taking his course, darted 
away in one undeviating direction. The prince followed him 
with his eye until he was a mere speck on a cloud, and gradu- 
ally disappeared behind a mountain. 

Day after day he watched for the return of the messenger of 
love, but he watched in vain. He began to accuse him of for- 
getfulness, w^hen, towards sunset one evening, the faithful bird 
fluttered into his apartment, and, falling at his feet, expired. 
The arrow of some wanton archer had pierced his breast, yet 
he had struggled with the lingerings of life to execute his 
mission. As the prince bent with grief over this gentle 
martyr to fidelity, he beheld a chain of pearls round his neck, 
attached to which, beneath his wing, was a small enamelled 
picture. It represented a lovely princess in the very flower of 
her years. It was doubtless the unknown beauty of the gar- 
den ; but who and where was she ? How had she received his 
letter, and was this picture sent as a token of her approval of 
his passion ? Unfortunately the death of the faithful dove left 
every thing in mystery and doubt. 

The prince gazed on the picture till his eyes swam with 
tears. He pressed it to his lips and to his heart; he sat for 
hours contemplating it almost in an agony of tenderness. 
*' Beautiful image! " said he; '^alas, thou art but an image! 
Yet thy dewy eyes beam tenderly upon me; those rosy lips 
look as though they would speak encouragement; vain fancies! 
Have they not looked the same on some more happy rival ? 
But where in this wide world shall I hope to find the original ? 
Who knows what mountains, what realms may separate us? 
what adverse chances may intervene? Perhaps now, even 
now, lovers may be crowding round her, while I sit here a 
prisoner in a tower, wasting my time in adoration of a painted 
shadow." 

The resolution ©f Prince Ahmed was taken. ''I will fly 



'70 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL EAMEL. 

from this palace/' said he, "which has become an odious * 
prison; and, a pilgrim of love, will seek this unknown prin- 
cess throughout the world." To escape from the tower in the 
day, when every one was awake, might be a difficult matter; 
but at night the palace was slightly guarded, for no one appre- 
hended any attempt of the kind from the prince, who had 
always been so passive in his captivity. How was he to guide 
himself, however, in his darkling flight, being ignorant of the 
country ? He bethought him of the owl, who was accustomed 
to roam at night, and must know every by-lane and secret 
pass. Seeking him in his hermitage, he questioned him touch- 
ing his knowledge of the land. Upon this the owl put on a 
mighty self-important look. "You must know, prince," 
said he, "that we owls are of a very ancient and extensive 
family, though rather fallen to decay, and possess ruinous cas- 
tles and palaces in all parts of Spain. There is scarcely a 
tower of the mountains, or a fortress of the plains, or an old 
citadel of a city, but has some brother or uncle or cousin 
quartered in it; and in going the rounds to visit this my 
numerous kindred, I have pried into every nook and corner, 
and made myself acquainted with every secret of the land. ' ' 

The prince was overjoyed to find the owl so deeply versed 
in topography,^ and now informed him, in confidence, of his 
tender passion and his intended elopement, urging him to be 
his companion and counsellor. 

" Go to! " said the owl, with a look of displeasure. " Am I 
a bird to engage in a love aliair? I whose whole time is 
devoted to meditation and the moon ? " 

" Be not offended, most solemn owl," replied the prince; 
"abstract thyself for a time from meditation and the moon, 
and aid me in my flight, and thou shalt have whatever heart 
can wish." 

" I have that already," said the owl; " a few mice are suffi- 
cient for my frugal table, and this hole in the wall is spacious 

1 hateful. 2 description of a place or region. 



LEGEND OF PKINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 71 

enough for my studies; and what more does a philosopher like 
myself desire ? ' ' 

*' Bethink thee, most wise owl, that while moping in thy 
cell, and gazing at the moon, all thy talents are lost to the 
world. I shall one day be a sovereign prince, and may 
advance thee to some post of honor and dignity. ' ' 

The owl, though a philosopher, and above the ordinary 
wants of life, was not above ambition; so he was finally pre- 
vailed on to elope with the prince, and be his guide and mentor ^ 
in his pilgrimage. 

The plans of a lover are promptly executed. The prince 
collected all his jewels, and concealed them about his person 
as travelling funds. That very night he lowered himself by 
his scarf from a balcony of the tower, clambered over the outer 
walls of the Generalife, and, guided by the owl, made good 
his escape before morning to the mountains. 

He now held a council with his mentor as to his future 
course. 

*' Might I advise," said the owl, " I would recommend you 
to repair to Seville.^ You must know that many years since I 
was on a visit to an uncle, an owl of great dignity and power, 
who lived in a ruined wing of the Alcazar ^ of that place. In 
my hoverings at night over the city I frequently remarked a 
light burniug in a lonely tower. At length I alighted on the 
battlements, and found it to proceed from the lamp of an 
Arabian magician; he was surrounded by his magic books, and 
on his shoulder was perched his familiar, an ancient raven who 
had come with him from Egypt. I am acquainted with that 
raven, and owe to him a great part of the knowledge I possess. 
The magician is since dead, but the raven still inhabits the 
tower, for these birds are of wonderful long life. I would 
advise you, prince, to seek that raven, for he is a soothsayer 

^ wise and faithful counsellor. Mentor tal of province of same name, and the Ro- 

was the instructor of Telemachus, son of man Hispalis. 
Ulysses, a hero of the Trojan war. 8 an old Moorish palace, inferior only- to 

• city on left bank of Guadalquivir, capi- the Alhambra. - - ., . ■ : 



72 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

aud a conjurer, and deals in the black art, for which all ravens, 
and especially those of Egypt, are renowned." 

The prince was struck with the wisdom of this advice, and 
accordingly bent his course toward Seville. He travelled 
only in the night, to accommodate his companion, and lay by 
during the day in some dark cavern or mouldering watch- 
tower, for the owl knew every hiding hole of the kind, and 
had a most antiquarian ^ taste for ruins. 

At length, one morning at daybreak, they reached the city 
of Seville, where the owl, who hated the glare and bustle of 
crowded streets, halted without the gate, and took up his 
quarters within a hollow tree. 

The prince entered the gate, and readily found the magic 
tower, which rose above the houses of the city as a palm-tree 
rises above the shrubs of the desert; it was, in fact, the same 
tower standing at the present day, and known as the Giralda, 
the famous Moorish tower of Seville. 

The prince ascended by a great winding staircase to the 
summit of the tower, where he found the cabalistic raven, an 
old, mysterious, gray-headed bird, ragged in feather, with a 
film over one eye, that gave him the glare of a spectre. He was 
perched on one leg, with his head turned on one side, poring 
with his remaining eye on a diagram described on the pavement. 

The prince approached him with the awe and reverence nat- 
urally inspired by his venerable appearance and supernatural 
wisdom. '' Pardon me, most ancient and darkly wise raven," 
exclaimed he, " if for a moment I interrupt those studies which 
are the wonder of the world. You behold before you a votary ^ 
of love, who would fain seek your counsel, how to obtain the 
object of his passion." 

"In other words," said the raven, with a significant look, 
"you seek to try my skill in palmistry.^ Come, show me 

^ pertaining to an antiquary, i. «., one ^ the art of telling fortunes from the 
given to the study of ancient times. marks or lines in the palm of the hand. 

9 on« bound by a vow. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 73 

your hand, and let me decipher tlie mysterious lines of for- 
tune." 

" Excuse me," said the prince, " I come not to pry into the 
decrees of fate, which are hidden by Allah from the eyes of 
mortals; I am a pilgrim of love, and seek but to find a clew to 
the object of my pilgrimage." 

"And can you be at any loss for an object in amorous 
Andalusia?" said the old raven, leering upon him with his 
single eye. " Above all, can you be at a loss in wanton Seville, 
where black-eyed damsels dance the zambra under every 
orange grove ? ' ' 

The prince blushed, and was somewhat shocked at hearing 
an old bird with one foot in the grave talk thus loosely. 
"Believe me," said he gravely, "I am on none such light 
and vagrant errand as thou dost insinuate.^ The black-eyed 
damsels of Andalusia who dance among the orange groves 
of the Guadalquivir are as naught to me. I seek one unknown 
but immaculate ^ beauty, the original of this picture; and I 
beseech thee, most potent raven, if it be within the scope of 
thy knowledge, or the reach of thy art, inform me where she 
may be found." 

The gray -headed raven was rebuked by the gravity of the 
prince. 

" What know I," replied he, dryly, " of youth and beauty? 
My visits are to the old and withered, not the fresh and fair. 
The harbinger ^ of fate am I, who croak bodings of death 
from the chimney top, and flap my wings at the sick man's 
window. You must seek elsewhere for tidings of your un- 
known beauty." 

" And where can I seek it if not among the sons of wisdom, 
versed in the book of destiny? Know that I am a royal 
prince, fated by the stars, and sent on a mysterious enterprise 
on which may hang the destiny of empires." 

When the raven heard that it was a matter of vast moment. 

' suggest ; hint. 2 withoat spot or blemish. ^ forenxnner. 



74 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

in which the stars took interest, he changed his tone and 
manner, and listened with profound attention to the story of 
the prince. When it was concluded he replied: "Touching 
this princess, I can give thee no information of myself, for 
my flight is not among gardens, or around ladies' bowers; 
but hie thee to Cordova,* seek the palm-tree of the great 
Abderahman, which stands in the court of the principal 
mosque : at the foot of it thou wilt find a great traveller who 
has visited all countries and courts, and been a favorite with 
queens and princesses. He will give thee tidings of the object 
of thy -search." 

"Many thanks for this precious information," said the 
prince. "Farewell, most venerable conjurer." 

"Farewell, pilgrim of love," said the raven, dryly, and 
again fell to pondering on the diagram. 

The prince sallied forth from Seville, sought hig fellow-trav- 
eller the owl, who was still dozing in the hollow tree, and set 
off for Cordova. 

He approached it along hanging gardens, and orange and 
citron groves, overlooking the fair valley of the Guadalquivir.^ 
When arrived at its gates the owl flew up to a dark hole in the 
wall, and the prince proceeded in quest ^ of the palm-tree 
planted in days of yore by the great Abderahman. It stood 
in the midst of the great court of the mosque, towering from 
amidst orange and cypress trees. Dervises * and Faquirs * were 
seated in groups under the cloisters of the court, and many of 
the faithful were performing their ablutions at the fountains 
before entering the mosque. 

At the foot of the palm-tree was a crowd listening to the 
words of one who appeared to be talking with great volubility. ^ 
"This," said the prince to himself, "must be the great trav- 
eller who is to give me tidings of the unknown princess." He 

> a city of Andalusia. ^ search. 

■•2 river rising in eastern part of Granada, * Moliammedan devotees or monks, 
and flowing west into the Atlantic. ^ fluency of speech. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 75 

mingled in the crowd, but was astonished to perceive that they 
were all listening to a parrot, who, with his bright green coat, 
pragmatical * eye, and consequential top-knot, had the air of 
a bird on excellent terms with himself. 

''How is this," said the prince to one of the bystanders, 
"that so many grave persons can be delighted with the gar- 
rulity ^ of a chattering bird ? " 

" You know not whom you speak of," said the other; "this 
parrot is a descendant of the famous parrot of Persia, renowned 
for his story-telling talent. He has all the learning of the 
East at the tip of his tongue, and can quote poetry as fast as 
he can talk. He has visited various foreign courts, where he 
has been considered an oracle ^ of erudition. He has been a 
universal favorite also with the fair sex, who have a vast admi- 
ration for erudite parrots that can quote poetry." 

" Enough," said the prince; "I will have some private talk 
with this distinguished traveller." 

He sought a private interview, and expounded the nature of 
his errand. He had scarcely mentioned it when the ]Darrot 
burst into a fit of dry, rickety laughter that absolutely brought 
tears in his eyes. "Excuse my merriment," said he, "but 
the mere mention of love always sets me laughing." 

The prince was shocked at this ill-timed mirth. "Is not 
love," said he, "the great mystery of nature, the secret prin- 
ciple of life, the universal bond of sympathy? " 

"A fig's end!" cried the parrot, interrupting him. 
" Prithee," where hast thou learned this sentimental jargon? 
Trust me, love is quite out of vogue; ^ one never hears of it in 
the company of wits and people of refinement." 

The prince sighed as he recalled the different language of 
his friend the dove. But this parrot, thought he, has lived 
about the court ; he affects the wit and the fine gentleman ; he 
knows nothing of the thing called love. Unwilling to pro- 

1 officious ; business-like. s any person reputed uncommonly wise. 

2 talkativeness. * I pray thee. ^ custom. 



76 LEGEND OF PBINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

vol<e any more ridicule of the sentiment which filled his heart, 
he now directed his inquiries to the immediate purport of his 
visit. 

"Tell me," said he, "most accomplished parrot, thou who 
hast everywhere been admitted to the most secret bowers of 
beauty, hast thou in the course of thy travels met with the 
original of this portrait ? ' ' 

The parrot took the picture in his claw, turned his head 
from side to side, and examined it curiously with either eye. 
"Upon my honor," said he, " a very pretty face, very pretty; 
but then one sees so many pretty women in one's travels that 
one can hardly — but hold — bless me ! now I look at it again — 
sure enough, this is the Princess Aldegonda. How could I 
forget one that is so prodigious a favorite with me! " 

" The Princess Aldegonda! " echoed the prince; " and where 
is she to be found ? " 

" Softly, softly," said the parrot; "easier to be found than 
gained. She is the only daughter of the Christian king who 
reigns at Toledo/ and is shut up from the world until her 
seventeenth birthday, on account of some prediction of those 
meddlesome fellows the astrologers. You'll not get a sight of 
her; no mortal man can see her. I was admitted to her pres- 
ence to entertain her, and I assure you, on the word of a par- 
rot who has seen the world, I have conversed with much sillier 
princesses in my time." 

"A word in confidence, my dear parrot," said the prince. 
" I am heir to a kingdom, and shall one day sit upon a throne. 
I see that you are a bird of parts, and understand the world. 
Help me to gain possession of this princess, and I will advance 
you to some distinguished place about court." 

" With all my heart," said the parrot; " but let it be a sine- 
cure ^ if possible, for we wits have a great dislike to labor. ' ' 

Arrangements were promptly made. The prince sallied forth 

' city on the Tagus, forty -one miles south- 2 position requiring no active service, 
southwest of Madrid, 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 77 

from Cordova through the same gate by which he had entered; 
called the owl down from the hole in the wall, introduced him 
to his new travelling companion as a brother savant, and away 
they set off on their journey. 

They travelled much more slowly than accorded with the 
impatience of the prince, but the parrot was accustomed to 
high life, and did not like to be disturbed early in the morn- 
ing. The owl, on the other hand, was for sleeping at mid-day, 
and lost a great deal of time by his long siestas. His antiqua- 
rian taste, also, was in the way; for he insisted on pausing and 
inspecting every ruin, and had long legendary tales to tell about 
every old tower and castle in the country. The prince had 
supposed that he and the parrot, being both birds of learning, 
would delight in each other's society, but never had he been 
more mistaken. They were eternally bickering. The one was 
a wit, the other a philosopher. The parrot quoted poetry, was 
critical on new readings, and eloquent on small points of erudi- 
tion; the owl treated all such knowledge as trifling, and rel- 
ished nothing but metaphysics. Then the parrot would sing 
songs and repeat bon mots ^ and crack jokes upon his solemn 
neighbor, and laugh outrageously at his own wit; all which 
proceedings the owl considered as a grievous invasion of his 
dignity, and would scowl and sulk and swell, and be silent for 
a whole day together. 

The prince heeded not the wranglings of his companions, 
being wrapped up in the dreams of his own fancy, and the 
contemplation of the portrait of the beautiful princess. In 
this way they journeyed through the stern passes of the Sierra 
Morena,^ across the sunburnt plains of La Mancha ^ and Cas- 
tile," and along the banks of the "Golden Tagus," ^ which 
winds its wizard mazes over one-half of Spain and Portugal. 

1 (bong mos), witty sayings. ■* occupying great central tableland of the 

2 mountain range separating basin of the peninsula. 

Guadiana from that of the Guadalquivir. ^ principal river of Spain, flowingthrough 

3 an old province in the Bouthern part of central part into the Atlantic. 
New Castile, 



78 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

At length they came iu sight of a strong city with walls and 
towers built on a rocky promontory, round the foot of which 
the Tagus circled with brawling violence. 

"Behold," exclaimed the owl, " the ancient and renowned 
city of Toledo; a city famous for its antiquities. Behold 
those venerable domes and towers, hoary with time and'clothed 
with legendary grandeur, in which so many of my ancestors 
have meditated." 

" Pish! " cried the parrot, interrupting his solemn antiqua- 
rian rapture, " what have w^e to do with antiquities and legends 
and your ancestry ? Behold what is more to the purpose — 
behold the abode of youth and beauty — behold at length, 
prince, the abode of your long-sought princess." 

The prince looked in the direction indicated by the parrot, 
and beheld, in a delightful green meadow on the banks of the 
Tagus, a stately palace rising from amidst the bowers of a 
delicious garden. It was just such a place as had been 
described by the dove as the residence of the original of the 
picture. He gazed at it with a throbbing heart. " Perhaps at 
this moment," thought he, " the beautiful princess is sporting 
beneath those shady bowers, or pacing with delicate step those 
stately terraces, or reposing beneath those lofty roofs." As 
he looked more narrowly, he perceived that the walls of the 
garden were of great height, so as to defy access, while numbers 
of armed guards patrolled around them. 

The prince turned to the parrot. " most accomplished 
of birds," said he, '* thou hast the gift of human speech. Hie 
thee to yon garden; seek thee the idol of my soul, and tell her 
that prince Ahmed, a pilgrim of love, and guided by the stars, 
has arrived in quest of her on the flowery banks of the Tagus. " 

The parrot, proud of his embassy, flew away to the garden, 
mounted above its lofty walls, and after soaring for a time 
over the lawns and groves, alighted on the balcony of a pavilion 
that overhung the river. Here, looking in at the casement, 
he beheld the princess reclining on a couch, with her eyes fixed 



LEGEND OF PEINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. iV 

on a paper, while tears gently stole after each, other down her 
pallid cheek. 

Pluming his wings for a moment, adjusting his bright green 
coat, and elevating his top-knot, the parrot perched himself 
beside her with a gallant air; then assuming a tenderness of 
tone, " Dry thy tears, most beautiful of princesses," said he; 
^' I come to bring solace to thy heart." 

The princess was startled on hearing a voice, but turning 
and seeing nothing but a little green-coated bird bobbing and 
bowing before her, "Alas! what solace canst thou yield," 
said she, " seeing thou art but a parrot ? " 

The parrot was nettled at the question. ''I have consoled 
many beautiful ladies in my time," said he; " but let that pass. 
At present I come ambassador from a royal prince. Know 
that Ahmed, the prince of Granada, has arrived in quest of 
thee, and is encamped even now on the flowery banks of the 
Tagus." 

The eyes of the beautiful princess sparkled at these words 
even brighter than the diamonds in her coronet. ' ' sweetest 
of parrots," cried she, ''joyful indeed are thy tidings, for I 
was faint and weary, and sick almost unto death with doubt of 
the constancy of Ahmed. Hie thee back, and tell him that 
the words of his letter are engraved in my heart, and his poetry 
has been the food of my soul. Tell him, however, that he 
must prepare to prove his love by force of arms; to-morrow is 
my seventeenth birthday, when the king my father holds a 
great tournament; several princes are to enter the lists, and 
my hand is to be the prize of the victor." 

The parrot again took wing, and rustling through the 
groves, flew back to where the prince awaited his return. 
The rapture of Ahmed on finding the original of his adored 
portrait, and finding her kind and true, can only be conceived 
by those favored mortals who have had the good fortune to 
realize day-dreams and turn a shadow into substance: still 
there was one thing that alloyed his transport — this impend- 



80 LEGEND OF PKINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

ing tournament. In fact, the banks of the Tagus were already 
glittering with arms, and resounding with trumpets of the 
various knights, who, with proud retinues, were prancing on 
towards Toledo to attend the ceremonial. The same star that 
had controlled the destiny of the prince had governed that of 
the princess, and until her seventeenth birthday she had been 
shut up from the world, to guard her from the tender passion. 
The fame of her charms, however, had been enhanced rather 
than obscured by this seclusion. Several powerful princes had 
contended for her hand; and her father, who was a king of 
wondrous shrewdness, to avoid making enemies by showing 
partiality, had referred them to the arbitrament ^ of arms. 
Among the rival candidates were several renowned for strength 
and prowess. What a predicament^ for the unfortunate 
Ahmed, unprovided as he was with weapons, and unskilled in 
the exercise of chivalry! " Luckless prince that I am! " said 
he, " to have been brought up in seclusion under the eye of a 
philosopher ! Of what avail are algebra and philosophy in 
aifairs of love*? Alas, Eben Bonabben ! why hast thou 
neglected to instruct me in the management of arms?" 
Upon this the owl broke silence, preluding his harangue with 
a pious ejaculation, for he was a devout Mussulman. 

'^ Allah Akbar! God is great!" exclaimed he. "In his 
hands are secret things — he alone governs the destiny of 
princes! Know, prince, that this land is full of mysteries, 
hidden from all but those who, like myself, can grope after 
knowledge in the dark. Know that in the neighboring moun- 
tains there is a cave, and in that cave there is an iron table, 
and on that table there lies a suit of magic armor, and beside 
that table there stands a spellbound steed, which have been 
shut up there for many generations." 

The prince stared with wonder, while the owl, blinking his 
huge round eyes, and erecting his horns, proceeded : 

'' Many years since, I accompanied my father to these parts 

* decision. " unpleasant situation. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 81 

on a tour of his estates, and we sojourned in that cave; and 
thus became I acquainted with the mystery. It is a tradition 
in our family, which I have heard from my grandfather when 
I was yet but a very little owlet, that this armor belonged to a 
Moorish magician who took refuge in this cavern when Toledo 
w^as captured by the Christians, and died here, leaving his 
steed and weapons under a mystic spell, never to be used but 
by a Moslem, and by him only from sunrise to mid-day. In 
that interval, whoever uses them will overthrow every oppo- 
nent." 

" Enough; let us seek this cave! " exclaimed Ahmed. 

Guided by his legendary mentor, the prince found the 
cavern, which was in one of the wildest recesses of those rocky 
cliffs which rise around Toledo; none but the mousing eye of. 
an owl or an antiquary could have discovered the entrance to 
it. A sepulchral lamp of everlasting oil shed a solemn light 
through the place. On an iron table in the centre of the 
cavern lay the magic armor; against it leaned the lance; and 
beside it stood an Arabian steed, caparisoned ' for the field, but 
motionless as a statue. The armor was bright and unsullied 
as it had gleamed in days of old ; the steed in as good condi- 
tion as if just from the pasture; and when Ahmed laid his 
hand upon his neck, he pawed the ground and gave a loud 
neigh of joy that shook the walls of the cavern. Thus amply 
provided with ''horse and rider and weapon to wear," the 
prince determined to defy the field in the impending tourney. 

The eventful morning arrived. The lists for the combat 
were prepared in the Vega, or plain, just below the cliff-built 
walls of Toledo, where stages and galleries were erected for 
the spectators, covered with rich tapestry, and sheltered from 
the sun by silken awnings. All the beauties of the land were 
assembled in those galleries, while below pranced plumed 
knights with their pages and esquires, among whom figured 
conspicuously the princes who were to contend in the tour- 

1 covered with a decorated cloth. 
6 



82 LEGEND OF PEINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

ney. All the beauties of the land, however, were eclipsed 
when the princess Aldegonda appeared in the royal pavilion, 
and for the first time broke forth upon the gaze of an admir- 
ing world. A murmur of wonder ran through the crowd at 
her transcendent loveliness; and the princes who were candi- 
dates for her hand, merely on the faith of her reported charms, 
now felt tenfold ardor for the conflict. 

The princess, however, had a troubled look. The color came 
and went from her cheek, and her eye wandered with a rest- 
less and unsatisfied expression over the plumed throng of 
knights. The trumpets were about sounding for the encoun- 
ter, when the herald announced the arrival of a strange knight; 
and Ahmed rode into the field. A steel helmet studded with 
gems rose above his turban; his cuirass was embossed with 
gold; his cimeter ^ and dagger'* were of the workmanship of 
Fez, and flamed with precious stones. A round shield was at 
his shoulder, and in his hand he bore the lance of charmed 
virtue. The caparison of his Arabian steed was richly em- 
broidered and swept the ground, and the proud animal pranced 
and snulfed the air, and neighed with joy at once more behold- 
ing the array of arms. The lofty and graceful demeanor of 
the prince struck every eye, and when his appellation was 
announced, "The Pilgrim of Love," a universal flutter and 
agitation prevailed among the fair dames in the galleries. 

When Ahmed presented himself at the lists, however, they 
were closed against him : none but princes, he was told, were 
admitted to the contest. He declared his name and rank. 
Still worse I — he was a Moslem, and could not engage in a 
tourney where the hand of a Christian princess was the prize. 

The rival princes surrounded him with haughty and menac- 
ing aspects; and one of insolent demeanor and herculean* 
frame sneered at his light and youthful form, and scoffed at 

1 short curved sword. * very strocg ; Hercules, a hero of the 

3 short straight sword. Greek mythology, was celebrated for his 

8 proud and overbearing. feats of strength. 



LEGEND OF PRIXCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 83 

his amorous apellation. The ire of the prince was roused. 
He defied his rival to the encounter. They took distance, 
wheeled, and charged; and at the first touch of the magic 
lance, the brawny scoffer was tilted from his saddle. Here the 
prince would have paused, but alas ! he had to deal with a 
demoniac horse and armor; once in action nothing could 
control them. The Arabian steed charged into the thickest 
of the throng; the lance overturned every thing that presented ; 
the gentle prince was carried pell-mell about the field, strew- 
ing it with high and low, gentle and simple, and grieving at 
his own involuntary exploits. The king stormed and raged 
at this outrage on his subjects and his guests. He ordered 
out all his guards — they were unhorsed as fast as they came 
up. The king threw off his robes, grasped buckler and lance, 
and rode forth to awe the stranger Avith the presence of majesty 
itself. Alas ! majesty fared no better than the vulgar; the 
steed and lance were no respecters of persons; to the dismay 
of Ahmed, he was borne full tilt against the king, and in a 
moment the royal heels were in the air, and the crown was 
rolling in the dust. 

At this moment the sun reached the meridian ; * the magic 
spell resumed its power; the Arabian steed scoured across the 
plain, leaped the barrier, plunged into' the Tagus, swam its 
raging current, bore the prince breathless and amazed to the 
cavern, and resumed his station, like a statue, beside the iron 
table. The prince dismounted right gladly, and replaced the 
armor, to abide the further decrees of fate. Then seating 
himself in the cavern, he ruminated on the desperate state to 
which the demoniac steed and armor had reduced him. 
Never should he dare to show his face at Toledo after inflict- 
ing such disgrace upon its chivalry, and such an outrage on its 
king. What too would the princess think of so rude and riot- 
ous an achievement ? Full of anxiety, he sent forth his winged 
messengers to gather tidings. The parrot resorted to all the 

1 position of the eun at noon. 



84; LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

public places and crowded resorts of the city, and soon returned 
with a world of gossip. All Toledo was in consternation. 
The princess had been borne off senseless to the palace; the 
tournament had ended in confusion; every one was talking of 
the sudden apparition/ prodigious exploits, and strange dis- 
appearance of the Moslem knight. Some pronounced him a 
Moorish magician ; others thought him a demon who had 
assumed a human shape; while others related traditions of 
enchanted warriors hidden in the caves of the mountains, and 
thought it might be one of these, who had made a sudden 
eruption from his den. All agreed that no mere ordinary 
mortal could have wrought such wonders, or unhorsed such 
accomplished and stalwart Christian warriors. 

The owl flew forth at night and hovered about the dusky 
city, perching on the roofs and chimneys. He then wheeled 
his flight up to the royal palace, which stood on a rocky sum- 
mit of Toledo, and went prowling about its terraces and battle- 
ments, eavesdropping at every cranny, and glaring in with his 
big, goggling eyes at every window where there was a light, so 
as to throw two or three maids of honor into fits. It was not 
until the gray dawn began to peer above the mountains that 
he returned from his mousing expedition, and related to the 
prince what he had seen. 

*'As I was prying about one of the loftiest towers of the 
palace," said he, "I beheld through a casement a beautiful 
princess. She was reclining on a couch, with attendants and 
physicians around her, but she would none of their ministry 
and relief. When they retired I beheld her draw forth a let- 
ter from her bosom, and read and kiss it, and give way to loud 
lamentations ; at which, philosopher as I am, I could but 
be greatly moved." 

The tender heart of Ahmed was distressed at these tidings. 
''Too true were thy words, sage Eben Bonabben," cried 
he; " care and sorrow and sleepless nights are the lot of lovers. 

1 sudden appearance. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 85 

Allah preserve the princess from the blighting influence of 
this thing called love! " 

Further intelligence from Toledo corroborated ^ the report of 
the owl. The city was a prey of uneasiness and alarm. The 
princess was conveyed to the highest tower of the palace, every 
avenue to which was strongly guarded. In the mean time a 
devouring melancholy had seized upon her, of which no one 
could divine the cause; she refused food and turned a deaf ear 
to every consolation. The most skilful physicians had essayed 
their art in vain; it was thought some magic spell had been 
practised upon her, and the king made proclamation, declaring 
that whoever should effect her cure should receive the richest 
jewel in the royal treasury. 

When the owl, who was dozing in a corner, heard of this 
proclamation, he rolled his large eyes and looked more 
mysterious than ever. 

" Allah Akbar! " exclaimed he, " happy the man that shall 
effect that cure, should he but know what to choose from the 
royal treasury." 

'* What mean you, most reverend owl ? " said Ahmed. 

" Hearken, prince, to what I shall relate. We owls, you 
must know, are a learned body, and much given to dark and 
dusty research. During my late prowling at night about the 
domes and turrets of Toledo, I discovered a college of anti- 
quarian owls, who hold their meetings in a great vaulted tower 
where the royal treasury is deposited. Here they were discuss- 
ing the forms and inscriptions and designs of ancient gems 
and jewels, and of golden and silver vessels, heaped up in the 
treasury, the fashion of every country and age; but mostly 
they w^ere interested about certain relics and talismans that 
have remained in the treasury since the time of Roderick the 
Goth. Among these was a box of sandal-wood, secured by 
bands of steel of Oriental workmanship, and inscribed with 
mystic characters known only to the learned few. This box 

» confirmed ; strengthened. 



86 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMEU AL KAMEL. 

and its inscription had occupied the college for several sessions, 
and had caused much long and grave dispute. At the time of 
my visit, a very ancient owl, who had recently arrived from 
Egypt, was seated on the lid of the box, lecturing upon the 
inscription; and he proved from it that the colfer contained the 
silken carpet of the throne of Solomon the wise, which doubt- 
less had been brought to Toledo by the Jews who took refuge 
there after the downfall of Jerusalem." 

When the owl had concluded his antiquarian harangue^ 
the prince remained for a time absorbed in thought. '' I have 
heard," said he, "from the sage Eben Bonabben, of the won- 
derful properties of that talisman, which disappeared at the 
fall of Jerusalem, and was supposed to be lost to mankind. 
Doubtless it remains a sealed mystery to the Christians of 
Toledo. If I can get possession of that carpet, my fortune is 
secure." 

The next day the prince laid aside his rich attire, and arrayed 
himself in the simple garb of an Arab of the desert. He dyed 
his complexion to a tawny hue, and no one could have recog- 
nized in him the splendid warrior who had caused such 
admiration and dismay at the tournament. With staff in 
hand, and scrip by his side, and a small pastoraP reed,^ he 
repaired to Toledo, and presenting himself at the gate of the 
royal palace, announced himself as a candidate for the reward 
offered for the cure of the princess. The guards would have 
driven him away with blows. ' ' W^hat can a vagrant Arab like 
thyself pretend to do," said they, "in a case where the most 
learned of the land have failed? " The king, however, over- 
heard the tumult, and ordered the Arab to be brought into his 
presence. 

" Most potent king," said Ahmed, "you behold before you 
a Bedouin * Arab, the greater part of whose life has been passed 
in the solitudes of the desert. These solitudes, it is well known, 

1 speech. s pipe (musical instrument). 

2 si>ch as a sliepherd might use. * (bed'oo-een), a tribe of wandering Arabs. 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 87 

are the haunts of demons and evil spirits, who beset us poor 
shepherds in our lonely watchings, enter into and possess our 
flocks and herds, and sometimes render even the patient camel 
furious; against these our counter-charm is music ; and we 
have legendary airs handed down from generation to genera- 
tion, that we chant and pipe, to cast forth these evil spirits. I 
am of a gifted line, and possess this power in its fullest force. 
If it be any evil influence of the kind that holds a spell over thy 
daughter, I pledge my head to free her from its sway." 

The king, who was a man of understanding and knew the 
wonderful secrets possessed by the Arabs, was inspired with 
hope by the confident language of the prince. He conducted 
him immediately to the lofty tower, secured by several doors, 
in the summit of which was the chamber of the princess. The 
windows opened upon a terrace with balustrades, commanding 
a view over Toledo and all the surrounding country. The 
windows were darkened, for the princess lay within, a prey to 
a devouring grief that refused all alleviation. 

The prince seated himself on the terrace, and performed 
several wild Arabian airs on his pastoral pipe, which he had 
learned from his attendants in the Greneralife at Granada. 
The princess continued insensible, and the doctors who were 
present shook their heads, and smiled with incredulity ' and 
contempt. At length the prince laid aside the reed, and, to a 
simple melody, chanted the amatory verses of the letter which 
had declared his passion. 

The princess recognized the strain — a fluttering joy stole to 
her heart; she raised her head and listened; tears rushed to 
her eyes and streamed down her cheeks; her bosom rose and 
fell with a tumult of emotions. She would have asked for 
the minstrel to be brought into her presence, but maiden coy- 
ness held her silent. The king read her wishes, and at his 
command Ahmed was conducted into the chamber. The 
lovers were discreet; they but exchanged glances, yet those 

1 indisposition to believe. 



88 LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. 

glances spoke volumes. Never was triumph of music more 
complete. The rose had returned to the soft cheek of the 
princess, the freshness to her lip, and the dewy light to her 
languishing eyes. 

All the physicians present stared at each other with astonish- 
ment. The king regarded the Arab minstrel with admiration 
mixed with aw5. ^' Wonderful youth 1 " exclaimed he, ^' thou 
shalt henceforth be the first physician of my court, and no 
other prescription will I take but thy melody. For the pres- 
ent receive thy reward, the most precious jewel in my treasury. ' ' 

" king," replied Ahmed, " I care not for silver or gold 
or precious stones. One relic hast thou in thy treasury, handed 
down from the Moslems who once owned Toledo — a box of 
sandal-wood, containing a silken carpet. Give me that box and 
I am content." 

All present were surprised at the moderation of the Arab, 
and still more when the box of sandal -wood was brought and 
the carpet drawn forth. It was of fine green silk, covered 
with Hebrew and Chaldaic characters. The court physicians 
looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and smiled at 
the simplicity of this new practitioner, who could be content 
with so paltry a fee. 

"This carpet," said the prince, "once covered the throne 
of Solomon the wise ; it is worthy of being placed beneath the 
feet of beauty. " 

So saying, he spread it on the terrace beneath an ottoman 
that had been brought forth for the princess; then seating 
himself at her feet — 

" Who," said he, " shall counteract what is written in the 
book of fate ? Behold the prediction of the astrologers verified. 
Know, king, that your daughter and I have long loved each 
other in secret. Behold in me the Pilgrim of Love! " 

These words were scarcely .from his lips, when the carpet rose 
in the air, bearing off the prince and princess. The king and 
the physicians gazed after it with open mouths and straining 



LEGEND OF PRINCE AHMED AL KAMEL. . 89 

eyes until it became a little speck on the white bosom of a 
cloud, and then disappeared in the blue vault of heaven. 

The king in a rage summoned his treasurer. "How is 
this," said he, "that thou hast suffered an infidel to get pos- 
session of such a talisman ? " 

" Alas, sir, we knew not its nature, nor could we decipher the 
inscription of the box. If it be indeed the carpet of the throne 
of the wise Solomon, it is possessed of magic power, and can 
transport its owner from place to place through the air." 

The king assembled a mighty army, and set off for Granada 
in pursuit of the fugitives. His march was long and toilsome. 
Encamping in the Vega, he sent a herald to demand restitu- 
tion ' of his daughter. The king himself came forth with all 
his court to meet him. In the king he beheld the real min- 
strel, for Ahmed had succeeded to the throne on the death of 
his father, and the beautiful Aldegonda was his sultana. 

The Christian king was easily pacified when he found that 
his daughter Avas suffered to continue in her faith; not that 
he was particularly pious ; but religion is always a point of 
pride and etiquette^ with princes. Instead of bloody battles, 
there was a succession of feasts and rejoicings, after which the 
king returned well pleased to Toledo, and the youthful couple 
continued to reign as happily as wisely in the Alhambra. 

It is proper to add, that the owl and the parrot had severally 
followed the prince by easy stages to Granada ; the former 
travelling by night, and stopping at the various hereditary 
possessions of his family; the latter figuring in gay circles of 
every town and city on his route. 

Ahmed gratefully requited the services which they had ren- 
dered on his pilgrimage. He appointed the owl his prime 
minister, the parrot his master of ceremonies. It is needless 
to say that never was a realm more sagely administered, nor a 
court conducted with more exact punctilio.^ 

• restoration, giving back. s preciseuess of propriety in conduct or 

8 (et-i-kef), good breeding, procedure. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 

Just within the fortress of the Alhambra, in front of the 
royal palace, is a broad open esplanade, called the Place or 
Square of the Cisterns, so called from being undermined by 
reservoirs of water, hidden from sight, and which have existed 
from the time of the Moors. At one corner of this esplanade 
is a Moorish well, cut through the living rock to a great depth, 
the water of which is cold as ice and clear as crystal. The 
wells made by the Moors are always in repute, for it is well 
known what pains the}^ took to penetrate to the purest and 
sweetest springs and fountains. The one of which we now 
speak is famous throughout Granada, insomuch that water- 
carriers, some bearing great water-jars on their shoulders, 
others driving asses before them laden with earthen vessels, are 
ascending and descending the steep woody avenues of the 
Alhambra, from early dawn until a late hour of the night. 

Fountains and wells, ever since the scriptural days, have 
been noted gossiping places in hot climates; and at the well 
in question there is a kind of perpetual club kept up during 
the livelong day, by the invalids, old women, and other curi- 
ous do-nothing folk of the fortress, who sit here on the stone 
benches, under an awning spread over the well to shelter the 
toll-gatherer from the sun, and dawdle over the gossip of the 
fortress, and question every water-carrier that arrives about 
the news of the city, and make long comments on every thing 
they hear and see. Not an hour of the day but loitering 
housewives and idle maid-servants may be seen, lingering with 
pitcher on head or in hand, to hear the last of the endless 
tattle of these worthies. 

Among the water-carriers who once resorted to this well, 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 91 

there was a sturdy, strong-backed, bandy-legged little fellow, 
named Pedro Gil, but called Peregil for shortness. Being a 
water-carrier, he was a G-allego, or native of Gralicia/ of course. 
Xature seems to have formed races of men, as she has of ani- 
mals, for different kinds of drudgery. In France the shoe- 
blacks are all Savoyards,'^ the porters of hotels all Swiss, and 
in the days of hoops and hair-powder in England, no man 
could give the regular swing to a sedan-chair but a bog-trot- 
ting Irishman. So in Spain, the carriers of water and bearers 
of burdens are all sturdy little natives of Galicia. No man 
says, ^' Get me a porter," but, *' Call a Gallego." 

To return from this digression,^ Peregil the Gallego had 
begun business with merely a great earthen jar which he car- 
ried upon his shoulder; by degrees he rose in the world, and 
was enabled to purchase an assistant of a correspondent class 
of animals, being a stout shaggy-haired donkey. On each 
side of this his long-eared aid-de-camp, " in a kind of pannier,^ 
were slung his water- jars, covered with fig-leaves to protect 
them from the sun. There was not a more industrious water- 
carrier in all Granada, nor one more merry withal. The 
streets rang with his cheerful voice as he trudged after his 
donkey, singing forth the usual summer note that resounds 
through the Spanish towns: " Who wants water — water colder 
than snow ? Who wants water from the well of the Alhambra, 
cold as ice and clear as crystal?" When he served a cus- 
tomer with a sparkling glass, it was always with a pleasant 
word that caused a smile; and if, perchance, it was a comely 
dame or dimpling damsel, it was always with a sly leer and a 
compliment to her beauty that was irresistible. Thus Peregil 
the Gallego was noted throughout all Granada for being one 
of the civilest, pleasantest, and happiest of mortals. Yet it is 
not he who sings loudest and jokes most that has the lightest 

1 province in northwest of Spain. * (aid-de-kong), assistant. (Tn the army, a 

2 natives of Savoy, a department of France general's confidential subordinate officer.) 
adjoining Switzerland. 6 wicker basket used for carrying bread, 

' wandering from the subject. fruit, etc., upon a horse. 



92 LEGEND OF THE MOOE'S LEGACY. 

heart. Under all this air of merriment, honest Peregil had 
his cares and troubles. He had a large family of ragged chil- 
dren to support, who were hungry and clamorous ^ as a nest of 
young swallows, and beset him with their outcries for food 
whenever he came home of an evening. He had a helpmate, 
too, who was anything but a help to him. She had been a 
village beauty before marriage, noted for her skill at dancing 
the bolero^ and rattling the castanets; ^ and she still retained 
her early propensities," spending the hard earnings of honest 
.Peregil in frippery, and laying the very donkey under requisi- 
tion for junketing ^ parties into the country on Sundays, and 
saints' days, and those innumerable holidays which are rather 
more numerous in Spain than the days of the week. With all 
this she was a little of a slattern,® something more of a lie-abed, 
and, above all, a gossip of the first water; neglecting house, 
household, and every thing else, to loiter slipshod in the houses 
of her gossip neighbors. 

He, however, who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, 
accommodates the yoke of matrimony to the submissive neck. 
Peregil bore all the heavy dispensations of wife and children 
with as meek a spirit as his donkey bore the water-jars; and, 
however he might shake his ears in private, never ventured 
to question the household virtues of his slattern spouse. 

He loved his children, too, even as an owl loves its owlets, 
seeing in them his own image multiplied and perpetuated; for 
they were a sturdy, long-backed, bandy-legged little brood. 
The great pleasure of honest Peregil was, whenever he could 
afford himself a scanty holiday, and had a handful of mara- 
vedis '' to spare, to take the whole litter forth with him, some 
in his arms, some tugging at his skirts, and some trudging at 

1 noisy. beaten together with the middle finger, as 

2 (from bola, ball), a favorite dance in an accompaniment to dancing. 
Spain, * inclinations. 

3 two small, concave shells of ivory or * merry excursion. 

hard wood, fastened to the thumb, and ® woman negligent of dress or house. 
' small copper coins, each worth three mills American money. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOK S LEGACY. 

his heels, and to treat them to a gambol ^ among the orchards 
of the Vega, while his wife was dancing with her holiday 
friends in the Angosturas^ of the Darro. 

It was a late hour one summer night, and most of the water- 
carriers had desisted from their toils. The day had been 
uncommonly sultry; the night was one of those delicious moon- 
lights, which tempt the inhabitants of southern climes to 
indemnify ^ themselves for the heat and inaction of the day, 
by lingering in the open air, and enjoying its tempered sweet- 
ness until after midnight. Customers for water were there- 
fore still abroad. Peregil, like a considerate, painstaking 
father, thought of his hungry children. 

*' One more journey to the well," said he to himself, *'to 
earn a Sunday's puchero* for the little ones." So saying, he 
trudged manfully up the steep avenue of the Alhambra, sing- 
ing as he went, and now and then bestowing a hearty thwack 
with a cudgel on the flanks of his donkey, either by way of 
cadence^ to the song, or refreshment to the animal; for dry 
blows serve in lieu of provender in Spain for all beasts of 
burden. 

When arrived at the well, he found it deserted by every one, 
except a solitary stranger in Moorish garb seated on a stone 
bench in the moonlight. Peregil paused at first and regarded 
him with surprise, not unmixed with awe, but the Moor feebly 
beckoned him to approach. "I am faint and ill," said he; 
*' aid me to return to the city, and I will pay thee double 
what thou couldst gain by thy jars of water." 

The honest heart of the little water-carrier was touched with 
compassion" at the aj^peal of the stranger. "God forbid," 
said he, 'Hhat I should ask fee or reward for doing a com- 
mon act of humanity." He accordingly helped the Moor on 
his donkey, and set off slowly for Granada, the poor Moslem 

' frolic. * regular daily dinner. 

2 narrow valleys. * regular modulation of sound. 

3 compensate for harm or loss. ^ pity. 



94 LEGEND OF THE MOORS LEGACY. 

being so weak that it was necessary to hold him on the ani- 
mal to keep him from falling to the earth. 

When they entered the city, the water-carrier demanded 
whither he should conduct him. ^'Alas !" said the Moor, 
faintly, '^ I have neither home nor habitation; I am a stranger 
in the land. Suffer me to lay my head this night beneath thy 
roof, and thou shalt be amply repaid." 

Honest Peregil thus saw himself unexpectedly saddled with 
an infidel guest, but he was too humane to refuse a night's 
shelter to a fellow being in so forlorn a plight, so he conducted 
the Moor to his dwelling. The children, who had sallied forth 
open-mouthed, as usual, on hearing the tramp of the donkey, 
ran back with affright, when they beheld the turbaned 
stranger, and hid themselves behind their mother. The latter 
stepped forth intrepidly, like a ruffling hen before her brood 
when a vagrant dog approaches. 

"What infidel companion," cried she, "is this you have 
brought home at this late hour, to draw upon us the eyes of 
the inquisition? " ^ 

" Be quiet, wife," replied the Gallego; "here is a poor sick 
stranger, without friend or home; wouldst thou turn him 
forth to perish in the streets ? ' ' 

The wife would still have remonstrated, for although she 
lived in a hovel, she was a furious stickler for the credit of her 
house; the little water-carrier, however, for once was stiff- 
necked, and refused to bend beneath the yoke. He assisted 
the poor Moslem to alight, and spread a mat and a sheep-skin 
for him on the ground in the coolest part of the house, being 
the only kind of bed that his poverty afforded. 

In a little while the Moor was seized with violent convul- 
sions, which defied all the ministering skill of the simple water- 
carrier. The eye of the poor patient acknowledged his kind- 
ness. During an interval of his fits he called him to his side, 
and addressing him in alow voice, "My end," said he, "I 

1 court established for punishment of heretics. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 95 

fear, is at hand. If I die, I bequeath you this box as a reward 
for your charity: " so saying, he opened his albornoz, or cloak, 
and showed a small box of sandal-wood strapped round his 
body. "God grant, my friend," replied the worthy little 
Gallego, "that you may live many years to enjoy your treasure, 
whatever it may be." The Moor shook his head; he laid his 
hand upon the box, and would have said something more con- 
cerning it, but his convulsions returned with increasing vio- 
lence, and in a little while he expired. 

The water-carrier's wife was now as one distracted.' " This 
comes," said she, "of your foolish good nature, always run- 
ning into scrapes to oblige others. What will become of us 
when this corpse is found in our house ? We shall be sent to 
prison as murderers; and if we escape with our lives, shall be 
ruined by notaries and alguazils." ^ 

Poor Peregil was in equal tribulation, and almost repented 
himself of having done a good deed. At length a thought 
struck him. "It is not yet day," said he; "I can convey 
the dead body out of the city, and bury it in the sands on the 
banks of the Xenil/ No one saw the Moor enter our dwel- 
ling, and no one will know anything of his death." 

So said, so done. The wife aided him : they rolled the body 
of the unfortunate Moslem in the mat on which he had expired, 
laid it across the ass, and Peregil set out with it for the banks 
of the river. 

As ill luck would have it, there lived opposite to the water- 
carrier a barber named Pedrillo Pedrugo, one of the most pry- 
ing, tattling, and mischief-making of his gossip tribe. Ho 
was a weasel-faced, spider-legged varlet, supple and insinuat- 
ing; the famous barber of Seville could not surpass him for his 
universal knowledge of the affairs of others, and he had no 
more power of retention" than a sieve. It was said that he 
slept but with one eye at a time, and kept one ear uncovered, 

1 crazed. s a southern branch of the Guadalquivir, 

a those authorized to make arrests. * keeping or holding. 



96 LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 

SO that, even in his sleep, he might see and hear all that was 
going on. Certain it is, he was a sort of scandalous chronicle 
for the quid-nuncs ^ of Granada, and had more customers than 
all the rest of his fraternity.^ 

This meddlesome barber heard Peregil arrive at an unusual 
hour at night, and the exclamations of his wife and children. 
His head was instantly popped out of a little window which 
served him as a look-out, and he saw his neighbor assist a man 
in Moorish garb into his dwelling. This was so strange an 
occurrence, that Pedrillo Pedrugo slept not a wink that night. 
Every five minutes he was at his loophole, watching the lights 
that gleamed through the chinks of his neighbor's door, and 
before daylight he beheld Peregil sally forth with his donkey 
unusually laden. 

The inquisitive ^ barber was in a fidget ; he slipped on his 
clothes, and, stealing forth silently, followed the water-carrier 
at a distance, until he saw him dig a hole in the sandy bank 
of the Xenil, and bury something that had the appearance of a 
dead body. 

The barber hied him home, and fidgeted about his shop, 
setting every thing upside down, until sunrise. He then took 
a basin under his arm, and sallied forth to the house of his 
daily customer the alcalde.* 

The alcalde was just risen. Pedrillo Pedrugo seated him in 
a chair, threw a napkin round his neck, put a basin of hot 
water under his chin, and began to mollify ^ his beard with 
his fingers. 

^'Strange doings ! " said Pedrugo, who played barber and 
newsmonger at the same time — " Strange doings ! Robbery, 
and murder, and burial all in one night ! " 

" Hey! — how! — what is that you say? " cried the alcalde. 

"I say," replied the barber, rubbing apiece of soap over 
the nose and mouth of the dignitary, for a Spanish barber dis- 

1 busybodies ; gossips. ' inquiring ; curious. 

2 brotherhood. * judge. * rub so as to soften. ' 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 97 

daius to employ a brush — '' I say that Peregil the Gallego has 
robbed and murdered a Moorish Mussulman, and buried him, 
this blessed night. Accursed be the night for the same ! ' ' 

^' But how do you know all this ? " demanded the alcalde. 

" Be patient, sefior, and you shall hear all about it," replied 
Pedrillo, taking him by the nose and sliding a razor over his 
cheek. He then recounted all that he had seen, going through 
both operations at the same time, shaving his beard, washing 
his chin, and wiping him dry with a dirty napkin, while he 
was robbing, murdering, and burying the Moslem. 

Now it so happened that this alcalde was one of the most 
overbearing, and at the same time most griping and corrupt 
curmudgeons ^ in all Granada. It could not be denied, how- 
ever, that he set a high value upon justice, for he sold it 
at its weight in gold. He presumed the case in point to be 
one of murder and robbery; doubtless there must be a rich 
spoil; how was it to be secured into the legitimate^ hands of 
the law ? For as to merely entrapping the delinquent ^ — that 
would be feeding the gallows ; but entrapping the booty — that 
would be enriching the judge, and such, according to his creed, 
was the great end of justice. So thinking, he summoned to 
his presence his trustiest alguazil, a gaunt, hungry-looking 
varlet, clad, according to the custom of his order, in the 
ancient Spanish garb — a broad black beaver turned up at its 
sides; a quaint ruff; a small black cloak dangling from his 
shoulders ; rusty black under-clothes that set o2 his spare, wiry 
frame, while in his hand he bore a slender white wand, the 
dreaded insignia of his office. Such was the legal bloodhound 
of the ancient Spanish breed, that he put upon the traces of 
the unlucky water-carrier, and such was his speed and cer- 
tainty that he was upon the haunches of poor Peregil before 
he had returned to his dwelling, and brought both him and his 
donkey before the dispenser of justice. 

The alcalde bent upon him one of the most terrific frowns. 

1 (corruption of corn merchant), misers, . ' lawful. ' offender ; transgressor. 

7 



98 LEGEND OF THE MOORS LEGACY. 

"Hark ye, culprit!" roared he, in a voice that made the 
knees of the little Gallego smite together — "hark ye, culprit! 
there is no need of denying thy guilt; every thing is known to 
me. A gallows is the proper reward for the crime thou hast 
committed, but I am merciful, and readily listen to reason. 
The man that has been murdered in thy house was a Moor, an 
infidel, the enemy of our faith. It was doubtless in a fit of 
religious zeal that thou hast slain him. I will be indulgent, 
therefore; render up the property of which thou hast robbed 
him, and we will hush the matter up." 

The poor water-carrier called uj)on all the saints to witness 
his innocence. Alas ! not one of them appeared ; and if they 
had, the alcalde would have disbelieved the whole calendar. 
The water-carrier related the whole story of the dying Moor 
with the straightforward simplicity of truth, but it was all in 
vain. "Wilt thou persist in saying," demanded the judge, 
"that this Moslem had neither gold nor jewels which were 
the object of thy cupidity? " ^ 

"As I hope to be saved, your worship," replied the water- 
carrier, " he had nothing but a small box of sandal- wood which 
he bequeathed to me in reward for m}^ services." 

"A box of sandal- wood! a box of sandal-wood! " exclaimed 
the alcalde, his eyes sparkling at the idea of precious jewels. 
" And where is this box ? Where have you concealed it ? " 

"An' it please your grace," replied the water-carrier, "it 
is in one of the panniers of my mule, and heartily at the ser- 
vice of your worship." 

He had hardly spoken the words when the keen alguazil 
darted off, and reappeared in an instant with the mysterious 
box of sandal-wood. The alcalde opened it with an eager and 
trembling hand ; all pressed forward to gaze upon the treasure 
it was expected to contain; when, to their disappointment, 
nothing appeared within, but a parchment scroll, covered with 
Arabic characters, and an end of a waxen taper. 

1 eager desire. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 99 

When there is nothing to be gained by the conviction of a 
prisoner, justice, even in Spain, is apt to be impartial. The 
alcalde, having recovered from his disappointment, and found 
that there was really no booty in the case, now listened dispas- 
sionately to the explanation of the water-carrier, which was 
corroborated by the testimony of his wife. Being convinced, 
therefore, of his innocence, he discharged him from arrest; 
nay, more, he permitted him to carry off the Moor's legacy, the 
box of sandal-wood and its contents, as the well-merited reward 
of his humanity; but he retained his donkey in payment of 
costs and charges. 

Behold the unfortunate little Gallego reduced once more to 
the necessity of being his own water-carrier, and trudging up 
to the well of the Alhambra with a great earthen jar upon his 
shoulder. 

As he toiled up the hill in the heat of the summer noon, 
his usual good humor forsook him. "Dog of an alcalde!" 
would he cry, "to rob a poor man of the means of his sub- 
sistence, of the best friend he had in the world! " And then 
at the remembrance of the beloved companion of his labors, 
all the kindness of his nature would break forth. " Ah, don- 
key of my heart! " would he exclaim, resting his burden on a 
stone, and wiping the sweat from his brow — "Ah, donkey of 
my heart! I warrant me thou thinkest of thy old master! I 
warrant me thou missest the water-jars — poor beast! " 

To add to his afflictions, his wife received him, on his return 
home, with whimperii^gs and repinings; she had clearly the 
vantage-ground of him, having warned him not to commit the 
egregious^ act of hospitality which had brought on him all 
these misfortunes; and, like a knowing woman, she took every 
occasion to throw her superior sagacity'^ in his teeth. If her 
children lacked food, or needed a new garment, she could 
answer with a sneer: " Go to your father; he is heir to king 

» remarkable ; extraordinary. The word 2 wisdom ; shrewdness, 
is generally used in an ironical sense. 



100 LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 

Chico of the Alhambra; ask him to help you out of the Moor's 
strong box." 

Was ever poor mortal so soundly punished for having done 
a good action ? The unlucky Peregil was grieved in flesh and 
spirit, but still he bore meekly with the railings of his spouse. 
At length, one evening, when, after a hot day's toil, she 
taunted him in the usual manner, he lost all patience. He 
did not venture to retort upon her, but his eye rested upon 
the box of sandal-wood, which lay on a shelf, with lid half open, 
as if laughing in mockery at his vexation. Seizing it up, he 
dashed it with indignation to the floor. ^'Unlucky was the 
day that I ever set eyes on thee," he cried, " or sheltered thy 
master beneath my roof ! " 

As the box struck the floor, the lid flew wide open, and the 
parchment scroll rolled forth. 

Peregil sat regarding the scroll for some time in moody 
silence. At length rallying his ideas, " Who knows, " thought 
he, "but this writing may be of some importance, as the Moor 
seems to have guarded it with such care?" Picking it up, 
therefore, he put it in his bosom, and the next morning, as he 
was crying water through the streets, he stopped at the shop of 
a Moor, a native of Tangier,^ who sold trinkets and perfumery 
in the Zacatin, and asked him to explain the contents. 

The Moor read the scroll attentively, then stroked his beard 
and smiled. "This manuscript," said he, "is a form of 
incantation for the recovery of hidden treasure that is under 
the power of enchantment. It is sai^ to have such virtue 
that the strongest bolts and bars, nay the adamantine "^ rock 
itself, will yield before it ! " 

"Bah! " cried the little Gallego, "what is all that to me? 
I am no enchanter, and know nothing of buried treasure." 
So saying, he shouldered his water-jar, left the scroll in 

1 seaport town of Morocco, in Northern 3 hard as adamant, an extremely hard 
Africa, near the west entrance of Strait of mineral. 
Gibraltar. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. lOl 

the hands of the Moor, and trudged forward on his daily 
rounds. 

That evening, however, as he rested himself about twilight 
at the well of the Alhambra, he found a number of gossips 
assembled at the place, and their conversation, as is not unusual 
at that shadowy hour, turned upon old tales and traditions of a 
supernatural nature. Being all poor as rats, they dwelt with 
peculiar fondness upon the popular theme of enchanted riches 
left by the Moors in various parts of the Alhambra. Above 
all, they concurred in the belief that there were great treas- 
ures buried deep in the earth under the tower of the seven 
floors. 

These stories made an unusual impression on the mind of 
the honest Peregil, and they sank deeper and deeper into his 
thoughts as he returned alone down the darkling avenues. 
'^ If, after all, there should be treasure hid beneath that 
tower, and if the scroll I left with the Moor should enable me 
to get at it ! " In the sudden ecstasy of the thought he had 
well-nigh let fall his water-jar. 

That night he tumbled and tossed, and could scarcely get a 
wdnkof sleep for the thoughts that were bewildering his brain. 
Bright and early he repaired to the shop of the Moor, and told 
him all that was passing in his mind. '' You can read 
Arabic," said he; " suppose we go together to the tower, and 
try the effect of the charm; if it fails we are no worse off than 
before ; but if it succeeds, we will share equally all the treasure 
we may discover." 

" Hold," replied the Moslem; " this writing is not sufficient 
of itself; it must be read at midnight, by the light of a taper 
singularly compounded and prepared, the ingredients ^ of 
which are not within my reach. Without sucli a taper the 
scroll is of no avail." 

" Say no more! " cried the little Gallego; " I have such a 
taper at hand, and will bring it here in a moment." So saying 

• elements entering into a compound. 



102 LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 

he hastened home, and soon returned with the end of a yellow 
wax taper that he had found in the box of sandal-wood. 

The Moor felt it and smelt of it. *' Here are rare and costly 
perfumes/' said he, *' combined with this yellow wax. This 
is the kind of taper specified in the scroll. While this burns, 
the strongest walls and most secret caverns will remain open. 
Woe to him, however, who lingers within until it be extin- 
guished. He will remain enchanted with the treasure." 

It was now agreed between them to try the charm that very 
night. At a late hour, therefore, when nothing was stirring 
but bats and owls, they ascended the woody hill of the Alham- 
bra, and approached that awful tower, shrouded by trees and 
rendered formidable by so many traditionary tales. By the 
light of a lantern, they groped their way through bushes, 
and over fallen stones, to the door of a vault beneath the tower. 
With fear and trembling they descended a flight of steps cut 
into the rock. It led to an empty chamber, damp and drear, 
from which another flight of steps led to a deeper vault. In 
this way they descended four several flights, leading into as 
many vaults, one below the other, but the floor of the fourth 
was solid ; and though, according to tradition, there remained 
three vaults still below, it was said to be impossible to pene- 
trate further, the residue being shut up by strong enchantment. 
The air of this vault was damp and chilly, and had an earthy 
smell, and the light scarce cast forth any rays. They paused 
here for a time in breathless suspense, until they faintly heard 
the clock of the watch-tower strike midnight; upon this they 
lit the waxen taper, which diffused an odor of myrrh ' and 
frankincense "^ and storax. ^ 

The Moor began to read in a hurried voice. He had scarce 
finished when there was a noise as of subterraneous thunder. 
The earth shook, and the floor, yawning open, disclosed a 

1 transparent gum resin, from Arabia, 2 a fragrant, aromatic resin, often burned 
valued for its odor and medicinal proper- as an incense in religious services. 
ties. 8 fragrant resin of reddisb-larown color. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 103 

flight of steps. Trembling with awe they descended^, and by 
the light of the lantern found themselves in another vault, 
covered with Arabic inscriptions. In the centre stood a great 
chest, secured with seven bands of steel, at each end of which 
sat an enchanted Moor in armor, but motionless as a statue, 
being controlled by the power of the incantation. Before the 
chest were several jars filled with gold and silver and precious 
stones. In the largest of these they thrust their arms up to the 
elbow, and at every dip hauled forth handf uls of broad yellow 
pieces of Moorish gold, or bracelets and ornaments of the same 
precious metal, while occasionally a necklace of Oriental 
pearl would stick to their fingers. Still they trembled and 
breathed short while cramming their pockets with the spoils, 
and cast many a fearful glance at the two enchanted Moors, 
who sat grim and motionless, glaring upon them with unwink- 
ing eyes. At length, struck with a sudden panic at some 
fancied noise, they both rushed up the staircase, tumbled over 
one another into the upper apartment, overturned and extin- 
guished the waxen taper, and the pavement again closed with 
a thundering sound. 

Filled with dismay, they did not pause until they had groped 
their way out of the tower, and beheld the stars shining 
through the trees. Then seating themselves upon the grass, 
they divided the spoil, determining to content themselves for 
the present with this mere skimming of the jars, but to return 
on some future night and drain them to the bottom. To 
make sure of each other's good faith, also, they divided the 
talismans between them, one retaining the scroll and the other 
the taper; this done, they set off with light hearts and well- 
lined pockets for G-ranada. 

As they wended their way down the hill, the shrewd Moor 
whispered a word of counsel in the ear of the simple little 
water-carrier. 

"Friend Peregil," said he, *'all this affair must be kept a 
profound secret until we have secured the treasure, and con- 



104 LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 

veyed it out of harm's way. If a whisper of it gets to the ear 
of the alcalde, we are undone ! " 

*' Certainly," replied the Gallego; "nothing can be more 
true." 

" Friend Peregil," said the Moor, " you area discreet man, 
and I make no doubt 'can keep a secret; but you have a wife." 

" She shall not know a word of it," replied the little water- 
carrier, sturdily. 

" Enough," said the Moor, " I depend upon thy discretion 
and thy promise." 

Never was promise more positive and sincere ; but, alas ! what 
man can keep a secret from his wife ? Certainly not such a 
one as Peregil the water-carrier, who was one of the most lov- 
ing and tractable of husbands. On his return home, he found 
his wife moping in a corner. " Mighty well," cried she as he 
entered, "you've come at last, after rambling about until this 
hour of the night. I wonder you have not brought home 
another Moor as a house-mate." Then bursting into tears, 
she began to wring her hands and smite her breast : " Unhappy 
woman that I am! " exclaimed she, " what will become of me ? 
My house stripped and plundered by lawyers and alguazils; 
my husband a do-no-good, that no longer brings home bread 
to his family, but goes rambling about day and night, with 
infidel Moors! my children ! my children! What will 
become of us ? We shall all have to beg in the streets ! " 

Honest Peregil was so moved by the distress of his spouse, 
that he could not help whimpering also. His heart was as full 
as his pocket, and not to be restrained. Thrusting his hand 
into the latter he hauled forth three or four broad gold pieces, 
and slipped them into her bosom. The poor woman stared 
with astonishment, and could not understand the meaning of 
this golden shower. Before she could recover her surprise, 
the little Gallego drew forth a chain of gold and dangled it 
before her, capering with exultation, his mouth distended 
from ear to ear. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 105 

" Holy Virgin, protect ns ! " exclaimed the wife. " What 
hast thou been doing, Peregil ? Surely thou hast not been 
committing murder and robbery ! " 

The idea scarce entered the brain of the poor woman, than it 
became a certainty with her. She saw a prison and a gallows 
in the distance, and a little bandy-legged Gallego hanging 
pendent' from it; and, overcome by the horrors conjured up 
by her imagination, fell into violent hysterics. 

What could the poor man do ? He had no other means of 
pacifying his wife, and dispelling the phantoms of her fancy, 
than by relating the whole story of his good fortune. This, 
however, he did not do until he had exacted from her the 
most solemn promise to keep it a profound secret from every 
living being. 

To describe her joy would be impossible. She flung her 
arms round the neck of her husband, and almost strangled 
him with her caresses. "Now, wife," exclaimed the little 
man with honest exultation, " what say you now to the Moor's 
legacy? Henceforth never abuse me for helping a fellow- 
creature in distress." 

The honest Gallego retired to his sheep-skin mat, and slept 
as soundly as if on a bed of down. Not so his wife; she 
emptied the whole contents of his pockets upon the mat, and 
sat counting gold pieces of Arabic coin, trying on necklaces 
and earrings, and fancying the figure she should one day make 
when permitted to enjoy her riches. 

On the following morning the honest Gallego took a broad 
golden coin, and repaired with it to a jeweller's shop in the 
Zacatin to offer it for sale, pretending to have found it among 
the ruins of the Alhambra. The jeweller saw that it had an 
Arabic inscription, and was of the purest gold; he offered, 
however, but a third of its value, with which the water-carrier 
was perfectly -content. Peregil now bought new clothes for 
his little flock, and all kinds of toys, together with ample pro vi- 

1 suspended. 



106 LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 

sions for a hearty meal, and returning to his dwelling, set all 
his children dancing aroand him, while he capered in the 
midst, the happiest of fathers. 

The wife of the water-carrier kept her promise of secrecy 
with surprising strictness. For a whole day and a half she 
went about with a look of mystery and a heart swelling almost 
to bursting, yet she held her peace, though surrounded by her 
gossips. It is true, she could not help giving herself a few 
airs, apologized for her ragged dress, and talked of ordering a 
new basquina ^ all trimmed with gold lace and bugles,^ and 
a new lace mantilla.^ She threw out hints of her husband's 
intention of leaving off his trade of water-carrying, as it did 
not altogether agree with his health. In fact she thought they 
should all retire to the country for the summer, that the chil- 
dren might have the benefit of the mountain air, for there was 
no living in the city in this sultry season. 

The neighbors stared at each other, and thought the poor 
woman had lost her wits; and her airs and graces and elegant 
pretensions were the theme of universal scoffing and merriment 
among her friends, the moment her back was turned. 

If she restrained herself abroad, however, she indemnified 
herself at home, and putting a string of rich oriental pearls 
round her neck, Moorish bracelets on her arms, and an 
aigrette * of diamonds on her head, sailed backwards and for- 
wards in her slattern rags about the room, now and then stop- 
ping to admire herself in a broken mirror. Nay, in the 
impulse of her simple vanity, she could not resist, on one 
occasion, showing herself at the window, to enjoy the effect of 
her finery on the passers-by. 

As the fates would have it, Pedrillo Pedrugo^ the meddle- 
some barber, was at this moment sitting idly in his shop on 
the opposite side of the street, when his ever-watchful eye 

• 

1 part of lady's dress, resembling a jacket ^ lady's cloak or cape of silk, velvet, etc. 
with a short skirt. * plume for the head, of feathers or pre- 

2 long glass beads. cious stones, in the form of a heron's crest. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 107 

caught the sparkle of a diamond. In an instant he was at 
his loophole reconnoitering the slattern spouse of the water- 
carrier, decorated with the splendor of an eastern bride. No 
sooner had he taken an accurate inventory ^ of her ornaments, 
than he posted off with all speed to the alcalde. In a little 
while the hungry alguazil was again on the scent, and before 
the day was over the unfortunate Peregil was once more 
dragged into the presence of the judge. 

"How is this, villain!" cried the alcalde, in a furious 
voice. " You told me that the infidel who died in your house 
left nothing behind but an empty coffer, and now I hear of 
your wife flaunting in her rags decked out with pearls and 
diamonds. Wretch that thou art! prepare to render up the 
spoils of thy miserable victim, and to swing on the gallows 
that is already tired of waiting for thee. ' ' 

The terrified water-carrier fell on his knees, and made a full 
relation of the marvellous manner in which he had gained his 
wealth. The alcalde, the alguazil, and the inquisitive barber 
listened with greedy ears to this Arabian tale of enchanted 
treasure. The alguazil was despatched to bring the Moor who 
had assisted in the incantation. The Moslem entered half 
frightened out of his wits at finding himself in the hands of 
the harpies^ of the law. When he beheld the water-carrier 
standing with sheepish looks and downcast countenance, he 
comprehended the whole matter. '^ Miserable animal," said 
he, as he passed near him, " did I not warn thee against bab- 
bling to thy wife ? ' ' 

The story of the Moor coincided exactly with that of his 
colleague; but the alcalde affected to be slow of belief, and 
threw out menaces of imprisonment and rigorous ^ investiga- 
tion. 

"Softly, good Seflor Alcalde," said the Mussulman, who 
by this time had recovered his usual shrewdness and self-pos- 
session. " Let us not mar fortune's favors in the scramble 

> list of articles. 2 plunderers ; robbers. ^ strict ; severe. 



108 LEGEND OF THE MOOR'S LEGACY. 

for them. Nobody knows anything of this matter but our- 
selves; let us keep the secret. There is wealth enough in 
the cave to enrich ns all. Promise a fair division, and all 
shall be produced ; refuse, and the cave shall remain forever 
closed." 

The alcalde consulted apart with the alguazil. The latter 
was an old fox in his profession. '' Promise any thing," said 
he, ^' until you get possession of the treasure. You may then 
seize upon the whole, and if he and his accomplice dare to 
murmur, threaten them with the fagot and the stake as infidels 
and sorcerers." 

The alcalde relished the advice. Smoothing his brow and 
turning to the Moor, " This is a strange story," said he, ''and 
may be true, but I must have ocular ^ proof of it. This very 
night you must repeat the incantation in my presence. If 
there be really such treasure, we will share it amicably between 
us, and say nothing further of the matter; if ye have deceived 
me, expect no mercy at my hands. In the mean time you 
must remain in custody." 

The Moor and the water-carrier cheerfully agreed to these 
conditions, satisfied that the event would prove the truth of 
their words. 

Towards midnight the alcalde sallied forth secretly, attended 
by the alguazil and the meddlesome barber, all strongly armed. 
They conducted the Moor and the water-carrier as prisoners, 
and were provided with the stout donkey of the latter to bear 
off the expected treasure. They arrived at the tower without 
being observed, and tying the donkey to a fig-tree, descended 
into the fourth vault of the tower. 

The scroll was produced, the yellow waxen taper lighted, 
and the Moor read the form of incantation. The earth 
trembled as before, and the pavement opened with a thunder- 
ing sound, disclosing the narrow flight of steps. The alcalde, 
the alguazil, and the barber were struck aghast, and could not 

1 received by actual sight. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 109 

summon courage to descend. The Moor and the water-carrier 
entered the lower vault, and found the two Moors seated as 
before, silent and motionless. They removed two of the great 
jars, filled with golden coin and precious stones. The water- 
carrier bore them np one by one upon his shoulders, but 
though a strong-backed little man, and accustomed to carry 
burdens, he staggered beneath their weight, and found, when 
slung on each side of his donkey, they were as much as the 
animal could bear. 

" Let us be content for the present," said the Moor; '^here 
is as much treasure as we can carry off without being perceived, 
and enough to make us all wealthy to our heart's desire." 

" Is there more treasure remaining behind ? " demanded the 
alcalde. 

" The greatest prize of all," said the Moor, "a huge coffer 
bound with bands of steel, and filled with pearls and precious 
stones." 

^^ Let ns have up the coffer by all means," cried the grasp- 
ing alcalde. 

"I will descend for no more," said the Moor, doggedly; 
"enough is enough for a reasonable man — more is super- 
fluous."^ 

" And I," said the water-carrier, " will bring up no further 
burden to break the back of my poor donkey." 

Finding commands, threats, and entreaties equally vain, the 
alcalde turned to his two adherents. " Aid me," said he, " to 
bring up the coffer, and its contents shall be divided between 
us." So saying, he descended the steps, followed with trem- 
bling reluctance by the alguazil and the barber. 

No sooner did the Moor behold them fairly earthed than 
he extinguished the yellow taper; the pavement closed with its 
usual crash, and the three worthies remained buried in the 
tomb. 

He then hastened up the different flights of steps, nor 

1 more than enough. 



110 * LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. 

stopped until in the open air. The little water-carrier fol- 
lowed him as fast as his short legs would permit. 

*' What hast thou done ? " cried Peregil, as soon as he could 
recover breath. " The alcalde and the other two are shut up 
in the vault." 

" It is the will of Allah! " said the Moor, devoutly. 

*^ And will you not release them? " demanded the Gallego. 

''Allah forbid !" replied the Moor, smoothing his beard. 
"It is written in the book of fate that they shall remain 
enchanted until some future adventurer arrive to break the 
charm. The will of God be done ! " So saying, he hurled the 
end of the waxen taper far among the gloomy thickets of the 
glen. 

There was now no remedy, so the Moor and the water-carrier 
proceeded with the richly-laden donkey toward the city, nor 
could honest Peregil refrain from hugging and kissing his 
long-eared fellow-laborer, thus restored to him from the 
clutches of the law; and in fact it is doubtful which gave the 
simple-hearted little man most joy at the moment, the gaining 
of the treasure or the recovery of the donkey. 

The two partners in good luck divided their spoil amicably 
and fairly, except that the Moor, who had a little taste for 
trinketry, made out to get into his heap the most of the pearls 
and precious stones and other baubles, but then he always 
gave the water-carrier in lieu magnificent jewels of massy 
gold, of five times the size, with which the latter was heartily 
content. They took care not to linger within reach of acci- 
dents, but made off to enjoy their wealth undisturbed in other 
countries. The Moor returned to Africa, to his native city of 
Tangier, and the Gallego, with his wife, his children, and his 
donkey, made the best of his way to Portugal. Here, under 
the admonition ' and tuition of his wife, he became a person- 
age of some consequence; for she made the worthy little man 
array his long body and short legs in doublet and hose, with a 

1 warning ; advice. 



LEGEND OF THE MOOR's LEGACY. Ill 

feather in his hat and a sword by his side, and laying aside 
his familiar appellation of Peregil, assume the more sonorous 
title of Don Pedro Gil. His progeny grew up a thriving and 
merry-hearted, though short and bandy-legged generation, 
while Senora Gil, befringed, belaced, and betasselled from her 
head to her heels, with glittering rings on every finger, became 
a model of slattern fashion and finery. 

As to the alcalde and his adjuncts, they remained shut up 
under the great tower of the seven floors, and there they 
remain spellbound at the present day. Whenever there shall 
be a lack in Spain of pimping barbers, sharking alguazils, and 
corrupt alcaldes, they may be sought after; but if they have 
to wait until such time for their deliverance, there is danger 
of their enchantment enduring until doomsday. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL 
PRINCESSES. 

In" old times there reigned a Moorish king in Granada, 
whose name was Mohamed, to which his subjects added the 
appellation of El Hayzari, or "The Left-handed." Some 
say he was so called on account of his being really more expert 
with his sinister ^ than his dexter ^ hand; others, because he was 
prone to take everything by the wrong end ; or, in other words, 
to mar wherever he meddled. Certain it is, either through 
misfortune or mismanagement, he was continually in trouble. 
Thrice was he driven from his throne, and, on one occasion, 
barely escaped to Africa with his life, in the disguise of a 
lisherman. Still he was as brave as he was blundering; and, 
though left-handed, wielded his cimeter to such purpose that 
he each time reestablished himself upon his throne by dint of 
hard fighting. Instead, however, of learning wisdom from 
adversity, he hardened his neck, and stiffened his left arm 
in wilfulness. The evils of a public nature which he thus 
brought upon himself and his kingdom may be learned by 
those who will delve into the Arabian annals of Granada; the 
present legend deals but with his domestic policy. 

As this Mohamed was one day riding forth with a train of 
his courtiers, by the foot of the Mountain of Elvira, he met a 
band of horsemen returning from a foray into the land of the 
Christians. They were conducting a string of mules laden with 
spoil, and many captives of both sexes, among whom the mon- 
arch was struck with the appearance of a beautiful damsel, 
richly attired, who sat weeping on a low palfrey, and heeded not 
the consoling words of a duenna ^ who rode beside her. 

The monarch was struck with her beauty, and, on inquiring 

* left. 2 right. 3 an elderly female attendant. 



LEGEND OF THE THEEE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 113 

of the captain of the troop, found that she was the daughter of 
the alcayde of a frontier fortress that had been surprised and 
sacked in the course of the foray. Mohamed claimed her as 
his royal share of the booty, and had her conveyed to his harem 
in the Alhambra. There every thing was devised to soothe her 
melancholy; and the monarch-, more and more enamored, 
sought to make her his queen. The Spanish maid at first 
repulsed his addresses : he was an infidel ; he was the open foe 
of her country; what was worse, he was stricken in years. 

The monarch, finding his assiduities ' of no avail, determined 
to enlist in his favor the duenna, who had been captured with 
the lady. She was an Andalusian by birth, whose Christian 
name is forgotten, being mentioned in Moorish legends by no 
other appellation than that of the discreet Kadiga — and dis- 
creet in truth she was, as her whole history makes evident. 
No sooner had the Moorish king held a little private conversa- 
tion Avith her, than she saw at once the cogency'^ of his reason- 
ing, and undertook his cause with her young mistress. 

" Go to, now! " cried she; '' what is there in all this to weep 
and wail about ? Is it not better to be mistress of this beauti- 
ful palace, with all its gardens and fountains, than to be shut 
up within your father's old frontier tower? As to this 
Mohamed being an infidel, what is that to the purpose ? 
You marry him, not his religion : and if he is waxing a little 
old, the sooner will you be a widow, and mistress of your- 
self; at any rate, you are in his power, and must either be a 
queen or a slave. When in the hands of a robber, it is better 
to sell one's merchandise for a fair price than to have it taken 
by main force." 

The arguments of the discreet Kadiga prevailed. The Span- 
ish lady dried her tears, and became the spouse of Mohamed 
the Left-handed; she even conformed, in appearance, to the 
faith of her royal husband; and her discreet duenna immedi- 
ately became a zealous convert to the Moslem doctrines. It was 

I dilisrent attentions. 3 force. 



114 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

then the latter received the Arabian name of Kadiga, and was 
permitted to remain in the confidential employ of her mistress. 

In due process of time the Moorish king was made the proud 
and happy father of three lovely daughters, all born at a birth. 
He could have wished they had been sons, bnt consoled himself 
with the idea that three daughters at a birth were pretty well 
for a man somewhat stricken in years, and left-handed ! 

As usual with all Moslem monarchs, he summoned his 
astrologers on this happy event. They cast the nativities of 
the three princesses, and shook their heads. ^'Daughters, 
king! " said they, " are always precarious ^ property; but these 
will most need your watchfulness when they arrive at a mar- 
riageable age ; at that time gather them under your wings, and 
trust them to no other guardianship." 

Mohamed the Left-handed was acknowledged to be a wise 
king by his courtiers, and was certainly so considered by him- 
self. The prediction of the astrologers caused him but little 
disquiet, trusting to his ingenuity to guard his daughters and 
outwit the Fates. ^ 

The three-fold birth was the last matrimonial trophy of the 
monarch; his queen bore him no more children, and died 
within a few years, bequeathing her infant daughters to his 
love, and to the fidelity of the discreet Kadiga. 

Many years had yet to elapse before the princesses would 
arrive at that period of danger — the marriageable age. " It is 
good, however, to be cautious in time," said the shrewd mon- 
arch ; so he determined to have them reared in the royal castle 
of Salobrena. This was the sumptuous palace, incrusted, as 
it were, in a powerful Moorish fortress on the summit of a hill 
overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was a royal retreat, in 
which the Moslem monarchs shut up such of their relatives as 
might endanger their safety, allowing them all kinds of luxu- 

1 doubtful ; uncertain. sented, one as holding the distaff, a second 

2 the three goddesses sometimes called the as spinning, and the third as cutting off 
Destinies, who were supposed to determine the thread of life. 

the course of human life, and are repre- 



LEGE.VD OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 115 

ries and amusements, in the midst of which they passed their 
lives in voluptuous indolence/ 

Here the princesses remained, immured'' from the world, 
but surrounded by enjoyment, and attended by female slaves 
who anticipated their wishes. They had delightful gardens 
for their recreation, filled wth the rarest fruits and flowers, 
with aromatic groves and perfumed baths. On three sides 
the castle looked down upon a rich valley, enamelled with 
all kinds of culture, and bounded by the lofted Alpuxaras 
Mountains; on the other side it overlooked the broad sunny 
sea. 

In this delicious abode, in a propitious ^ climate, and under 
a cloudless sky, the three princesses grew up into wondrous 
beauty ; but, though all reared alike, they gave early tokens of 
diversity of character. Their names were Zayda, Zorayda, 
and Zorahayda ; and such was their order of seniority, for there 
had been precisely three minutes between their births. 

Zayda, the eldest, was of an intrepid * spirit, and took the 
lead of her sisters in every thing, as she had done in entering 
into the world. She was curious and inquisitive, and fond of 
getting at the bottom of things. 

Zorayda had a great feeling for beauty, which was the rea- 
son, no doubt, of her delighting to regard her own image in 
the mirror or a fountain, and of her fondness for flowers and 
jewels and other tasteful ornaments. 

As to Zorahayda, the youngest, she was soft and timid, and 
extremely sensitive, with a vast deal of disposable tenderness, 
as was evident from her number of pet flowers, and pet birds, 
and pet animals, all of which she cherished with the fondest 
care. Her amusements, too, were of a gentle nature, and 
mixed up with musing and reverie. She would sit for hours 
in a balcony, gazing on the sparkling stars of a summer's 
night; or on the sea when lit up by the moon; and at such 
times, the song of a fisherman, faintly heard from the beach> 

> laziness. 2 imprisoned ; ehut up. ^ favorable. ♦ bold ; fearless. 



116 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

or the notes of a Moorish flute from some gliding bark, sufficed 
to elevate her feelings into ecstasy. The least uproar of the 
elements, however, filled her with dismay; and a clap of thun- 
der was enough to throw her into a swoon. 

Years rolled on smoothly and serenely ; the discreet Kadiga, 
to whom the princesses were confided, was faithful to her trust, 
and attended them with unremitting care. 

The castle of Salobrena, as has been said, was built upon a 
hill on the sea-coast. One of the exterior walls straggled down 
the profile of the hill, until it reached a jutting rock over- 
hanging the sea, with a narrow sandy beach at its foot, laved 
by the rippling billows. A small watch-tower on this rock 
had been fitted up as a pavilion, with latticed windows to 
admit the sea-breeze. Here the princesses used to pass the 
sultry hours of mid-day. 

The curious Zayda was one day seated at a window of the 
pavilion, as her sisters, reclining on ottomans, were taking the 
siesta, or noontide slumber. Her attention was attracted to a 
galley which came coasting along with measured strokes of 
the oar. As it drew near, she observed that it was filled with 
armed men. The galley anchored at the foot of the tower; a 
number of Moorish soldiers landed on the narrow beach, con- 
ducting several Christian prisoners. The curious Zayda 
awakened her sisters, and all three peeped cautiously through 
the close jalousies of the lattice which screened them from 
sight. Among the prisoners were three Spanish cavaliers, 
richly dressed. They were in the flower of youth, and of 
noble presence; and the lofty manner in which they carried 
themselves, though loaded with chains and surrounded with 
enemies, bespoke the grandeur of their souls. The princesses 
gazed with intense and breathless interest. Cooped up as they 
had been in this castle among female attendants, seeing 
nothing of the male sex but black slaves, or the rude fisher- 
men of the sea-coast, it is not to be wondered at that the 
appearance of three gallant cavaliers, in the pride of youth 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 117 

and manly beauty, should produce some commotion ' in their 
bosoms. 

*' Did ever nobler being tread the earth than that cavalier in 
crimson?" cried Zayda, the eldest of the sisters. "See how 
proudly he bears himself, as though all around him were his 
slaves ! " 

"But notice that one in green!" exclaimed Zorayda. 
" What grace! what elegance! what spirit ! " 

The gentle Zorahayda said nothing, but she secretly gave 
preference to the cavalier in blue. 

The princesses remained gazing until the prisoners were out 
of sight; then heaving long-drawn sighs, they turned round, 
looked at each other for a moment, and sat down, musing 
and pensive, on their ottomans. 

Tlie discreet Kadiga found them in this situation; they 
related what they had seen, and even the withered heart of 
the duenna was warmed. " Poor youths ! " exclaimed she, 
"I'll warrant their captivity makes many a fair and high- 
born lady's heart ache in their native land! Ah! my chil- 
dren, you have little idea of the life these cavaliers lead in 
their own country. Such prankling at tournaments! Such 
devotion to the ladies! Such courting and serenading ! '* 

The curiosity of Zayda was fully aroused ; she was insatiable ' 
in her inquiries, and drew from the duenna the most ani- 
mated ^ pictures of the scenes of her youthful days and native 
land. The beautiful Zorayda bridled up, .and slyly regarded 
herself in a mirror, when the theme turned upon the charms 
of the Spanish ladies ; while Zorahayda suppressed a struggling 
sigh at the mention of moonlight serenades. 

Every day the curious Zayda renewed her inquiries, and 
every day the same duenna repeated her stories, which were 
listened to with profound interest, though with frequent 
sighs, by her gentle auditors. The discreet old woman awoke 
at length to the mischief she might be doing. She had been 

» agitation ; tumult- * persistent ; could not be satisfied. ' lively. 



118 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

accustomed to think of the princesses only as children; but 
they had imperceptibly ripened beneath her eye, and now 
bloomed before her three lovely damsels of the marriageable 
age. It is time, thought the duenna, to give notice to the 
king. 

Mohamed the Left-handed was seated one morning on a 
divan in a cool hall of the Alhambra, when a slave arrived 
from the fortress of Salobrena, with a message from the sage 
Kadiga, congratulating him on the anniversary of his daugh- 
ters' birthday. The slave at the same time presented a deli- 
cate little basket decorated with flowers, within Avhich, on a 
couch of vine and fig-leaves, lay a peach, an apricot, and a 
nectarine, with their bloom and down and dewy sweetness 
uj)on them, and all in the early stage of tempting ripeness. 
The monarch was versed in the Oriental language of fruits 
and flowers, and rapidly divined the meaning of this emblem- 
atical offering. 

*' So," said he, "the critical period pointed out by the 
astrologers is arrived ; my daughters are at a marriageable age. 
What is to be done ? They are shut up from the eyes of men ; 
they are under the eyes of the discreet Kadiga — ^all very good 
— but still they are not under my own eye, as was prescribed 
by the astrologers. I must gather them under my wing, and 
trust to no other guardianship." 

So saying, he ordered that a tower of the Alhambra should 
be prepared for their reception, and departed at the head of 
his guards for the fortress of Salobrena, to conduct them home 
in person. 

About three years had elapsed since Mohamed had beheld 
his daughters, and he could scarcely credit his eyes at the won- 
derful change which that small space of time had made in 
their appearance. During the interval, they had passed that 
wondrous boundary line in female life which separates the 
crude, unformed, and thoughtless girl from the blooming, 
blushing, meditative woman. It is like passing from the flat. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 119 

bleak, uninteresting plains of the La Mancha to the voluptuous 
valleys and swelling hills of Andalusia. 

Zayda was tall and finely formed, with a lofty demeanor and 
a penetrating eye. She entered with a stately and decided 
step, and made a j)i*ofound reverence to Mohamed, treating 
him more as her sovereign than her father. Zorayda was of 
the middle height, with an alluring look and swimming gait, 
and a sparkling beauty, heightened by the assistance of the 
toilette. She approached her father with a smile, kissed his 
hand, and saluted him with several stanzas from a popular 
Arabian poet, with which the monarch was delighted. Zora- 
hayda was shy and timid, smaller than her sisters, and with a 
beauty of that tender, beseeching kind which looks for fond- 
ness and protection. She was little fitted to command, like 
her elder sister, or to dazzle, like the second ; but was rather 
formed to creep to the bosom of manly affection, to nestle 
within it, and be content. She drew near to her father, with 
a timid and almost faltering step, and would have taken his 
hand to kiss, but on looking up into his face, and seeing it 
beaming with a paternal smile, the tenderness of her nature 
broke forth, and she threw herself upon his neck. 

Mohamed the Left-handed surveyed his blooming daughters 
with mingled pride and perplexity; for while he exulted in 
their charms, he bethought himself of the prediction of the 
astrologers. " Three daughters! three daughters ! " muttered 
he repeatedly to himself, " and all of a marriageable age ! Here's 
tempting Hesperian * fruit, that requires a dragon watch ! " 

He prepared for his return to Granada, by sending heralds 
before him, commanding every one to keep out of the road by 
which he was to pass, and that all doors and windows should 
be closed at the approach of the princesses. This done, he 
set forth, escorted by a troop of black horsemen of hideous 
aspect, and clad in shining armor. 

* this is an allusion to the fabulous garden ing golden fruit which was carried away bj' 
of the Heeperides, daughters of Hesperus, Hercules, after he had slain the watchful 
in the western border of the earth, produc- dragon which guarded it. 



120 LEGEND OP THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

The princesses rode beside the king, closely veiled, on beau- 
tiful white palfreys, with velvet caparisons embroidered with 
gold, and sweeping the ground ; the bits and stirrups were of 
gold, and the silken bridles adorned with pearls and precious 
stones. The palfreys were covered with little silver bells, 
which made the most musical tinkling as they ambled gently 
along. Woe to the unlucky wight, however, who lingered in 
the way when he heard the tinkling of these bells; the guards 
were ordered to cut him down without mercy. 

The cavalcade was drawing near to Granada, when it over- 
took, on the banks of the river Xenil, a small body of Moorish 
soldiers with a convoy of prisoners. It was too late for the 
soldiers to get out of the way, so they threw themselves on 
their faces on the earth, ordering their captives to do the like. 
Among the prisoners were the three identical cavaliers whom 
the princesses had seen from the pavilion. They either did 
not understand, or were too haughty to obey the order, and 
remained standing and gazing upon the cavalcade as it 
approached. 

The ire of the monarch was kindled at this flagrant defiance 
of his orders. Drawing his cimeter, and pressing forward, 
he was about to deal a left-handed blow that might have been 
fatal to at least one of the gazers, when the princesses crowded 
round him, and implored mercy for the prisoners; even the 
timid Zorahayda forgot her shyness, and became eloquent in 
their behalf. Mohamed paused, with uplifted cimeter, when 
the captain of the guard threw himself at his feet. *' Let not 
your highness," said he, " do a deed that may cause great 
scandal throughout the kingdom. These are three brave and 
'noble Spanish knights who have been taken in battle, fighting 
like lions; they are of high birth, and may bring great ran- 
soms." '' Enough!" said the king. "I will spare their 
lives, but punish their audacity;* let them be taken to the 
Vermilion Towers, and put to hard labor." 

1 boldness ; daring. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 121 

Mohamed was making one of his usual lef t-lianded blunders. 
In the tumult and agitation of this blustering scene, the veils 
of the three princesses had been thrown back, and the radiance 
of their beauty revealed; and in prolonging the parley, the 
king had given their beauty time to have its full effect. In 
those days people fell in love much more suddenly than at 
present, as all ancient stories make manifest ; it is not a matter 
of wonder, therefore, that the hearts of the three cavaliers were 
completely captured, especially as gratitude was added to 
their admiration. It is a little singular, however, though no 
less certain, that each of them was enraptured with a several 
beauty. As to the princesses, they were more than ever struck 
with the noble demeanor of the captives, and cherished in 
their breasts all that they had heard of their valor and noble 
lineage. 

The cavalcade resumed its march ; the three princesses rode 
pensively along on their tinkling palfreys, now and then steal- 
ing a glance behind in search of the Christian captives, and 
the latter were conducted to their allotted prison in the Ver- 
milion Towers. 

The residence provided for the princesses was one of the 
most dainty that fancy could devise. It was in a tower some- 
what apart from the main palace of the Alhambra, though 
connected with it by the wall which encircled the whole sum- 
mit of the hill. On one side it looked into the interior of 
the fortress, and had, at its foot, a small garden filled with 
the rarest flowers. On the other side it overlooked a deep 
embowered ravine separating the grounds of the Alhambra 
from those of the Generalife. The interior of the tower was 
divided into small fairy apartments, beautifully ornamented 
in the light Arabian style, surrounding a lofty hall, the vaulted 
roof of which rose almost to the summit of the tower. The 
walls and the ceilings of the hall were adorned with arabesque 
and fretwork, sparkling with gold and with brilliant pencil- 
ling. In the centre of the marble pavement was an alabaster 



122 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

fountain, set round with aromatic shrubs and flowers, and 
throwing up a jet of water that cooled the whole edifice, and 
had a lulling sound. Kound the hall were suspended cages of 
gold and silver wire, containing singing-birds of the finest 
plumage or sweetest note. 

The princesses had been represented as always cheerful when 
in the castle of the Salobrena; the king had expected to see 
them enraptured with the Alhambra. To his surprise, how- 
ever, they began to pine and grow melancholy, and dissatisfied 
with every thing around them. The flowers yielded them no 
fragrance, the song of the nightingale disturbed their night's 
rest, and they were out of all patience with the alabaster foun- 
tain, with its eternal drop-drop and splash-splash from morn- 
ing till night, and from night till morning. 

The king, who was somewhat of a testy, tyrannical disposi- 
tion, took this at first in high dudgeon; ^ but he reflected that 
his daughters had arrived at an age when the female mind 
expands and its desires augment. *' They are no longer chil- 
dren," said he to himself; "they are women grown, and 
require suitable objects to interest them.," He put in requisi- 
tion, therefore, all the dressmakers and the jewellers and the 
artificers in gold and silver throughout the Zacatin of Granada, 
and the princesses were overwhelmed with robes of silk and 
tissue and brocade, and cashmere shawls, and necklaces of 
pearls and diamonds, and rings and bracelets and anklets, 
and all manner of precious things. 

All, however, was of no avail; the princesses continued pale 
and languid in the midst of their finery, and looked like three 
blighted rosebuds, drooping from one stalk. The king was 
at his wit's end. He had in general a laudable "^ confidence in 
his own judgment, and never took advice. " The whims and 
caprices of three marriageable damsels, however, are suffi- 
cient," said he, "to puzzle the shrewdest head." So for once 
in his life he called in the aid of counsel. 

1 anger ; resentment. s praiseworthy. 



LEGEND OF THE THREK BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 123 

The person to whom he applied was the experienced duenna. 

"Kadiga," said the king, ^'I know you to be one of the 
most discreet women in the whole world, as well as one of the 
most trustworthy; for these reasons I have always continued 
you about the persons of my daughters. Fathers cannot be 
too wary in whom they repose such confidence. I now wish 
you to find out the secret malady that is preying upon the 
princesses, and to devise some means of restoring them to 
health and cheerfulness." 

' Kadiga promised implicit obedience. In fact she knew more 
of the malady of the princesses than they did themselves. 
Shutting herself up with them, however, she endeavored to 
insinuate herself into their confidence. 

" My dear children, what is the reason you are so dismal and 
downcast in so beautiful a place, where you have every thing 
that heart can wish ? " 

The princesses looked vacantly round the apartment, and 
sighed. 

*' What more, then, Avould you have? Shall I get you the 
wonderful parrot that talks all languages, and is the delight 
of Granada?" 

"Odious!" exclaimed the princess Zayda. ''A horrid, 
screaming bird, that chatters words without ideas; one must be 
without brains to tolerate such a pest." 

" Shall I send for a monkey from the rock of Gibraltar, to 
divert you with his antics ? " 

"'A monkey! faugh!" cried Zorayda; "the detestable 
mimic of man. I hate the nauseous animal." 

" What say you to the famous black singer Casem, from the 
royal harem in Morocco ? ^ They say he has a voice as fine as 
a woman's." 

" I am terrified at the sight of these black slaves," said the 
delicate Zorahayda; " besides, I have lost all relish for music." 

"Ah ! my child, you would not say so," replied the old 

« country in northwest of Africa, bordering on Mediterranean. 



124 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

woman, slyly, *'had you heard the music I heard last evening, 
from the three Spanish cavaliers whom we met on our jour- 
ney. But, bless me, children! what is the matter that you 
blush so, and are in such a flutter ? " 

"Nothing, nothing, good mother; pray proceed." 

" Well; as I was passing by the Vermilion Towers last even- 
ing, I saw the three cavaliers resting after their day's labor. 
One was playing on the guitar so gracefully, and the others sang 
by turns ; and they did it in such style that the very guards 
seemed like statues or men enchanted. Allah forgive me ! I 
could not help being moved at hearing the songs of my native 
country. And then to see three such noble and handsome 
youths in chains and slavery ! " 

Here the kind-hearted old woman could not restrain her 
tears. 

' ' Perhaps, mother, you could manage to procure us a sight 
of these cavaliers," said Zayda. 

*'I think," said Zorayda, " a little music would be quite 
reviving." 

The timid Zorahayda said nothing, but threw her arms 
round the neck of Kadiga. 

'' Mercy on me ! " exclaimed the discreet old woman ; " what 
are you talking of, my children? Your father would be, the 
death of us all, if he heard of such a thing. To be sure, these 
cavaliers are evidently well-bred and high-minded youths; but 
what of that ? They are the enemies of our faith, and you must 
not even think of them but with abhorrence." 

There is an admirable intrepidity ^ in the f enlale will, par- 
ticularly when about the marriageable age, which is not to be 
deterred by dangers and prohibitions. The princesses hung 
round their old duenna, and coaxed and entreated, and 
declared that a refusal would break their hearts. 

What could she do ? She was certainly the most discreet 
old woman in the whole world, and one of the most faithful 

i courage ; resolntenees. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 125 

servants to the king; but was she to see these beautiful prin- 
cesses break their hearts for the mere tinkling of a guitar ? 
Besides, though she had been so long among the Moors, and 
changed her faith in imitation of her mistress, like a trusty 
follower, yet she was a Spaniard born, and had the lingerings 
of Christianity in her heart. So she set about to contrive how 
the wish of the princesses might be gratified. 

The Christian captives, confined in the Vermilion Towers, 
were under the charge of a big-whiskered, broad-shouldered 
renegado,^ called Hussein Baba, who was reputed to have a 
most itching ^ palm. She went to him privately, and slipping 
a broad piece of gold into his hand, '^Hussein Baba," said 
she; *'my mistresses, the three princesses, who are shut up in 
the tower, and in sad want of amusement, have heard of the 
musical talents of the three Spanish cavaliers, and are desirous 
of hearing a specimen of their skill. I am sure you are too 
kind-hearted to refuse them so innocent a gratification." 

'' What! and to have my head set grinning over the gate of 
my own tower ! For that would be the reward, if the king 
should discover it." 

' ' No danger of anything of the kind ; the affair may be 
managed so that the whim of the princesses may be gratified, 
and their father be never the wiser. You know the deep 
ravine outside of the walls which passes immediately below 
the tower. Put the three Christians to work there, and at the 
intervals of their labor, let them play and sing, as if for their 
own recreation. In this way the princesses will be able to 
hear them from the windows of the tower, and you may be 
sure of their paying well for your compliance." 

As the good old woman concluded her harangue, she kindly 
pressed the rough hand of the renegade, and left within it 
another piece of gold. 

Her eloquence was irresistible. The very next day the three 
cavaliers were put to work in the ravine. During the noon- 

» renegade ; one faithlees to principle or party. 2 j. ^.^ itched for money. 



126 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PEINCESSES. 

tide lieat, when their fellow-laborers were sleeping in the 
shade, and the guard nodding drowsily at his post, they seated 
themselves among the herbage at the foot of the tower, and 
sang a Spanish roundelay to the accompaniment of the guitar. 

The glen was deep, the tower was high, but their voices 
rose distinctly in the stillness of the summer noon. The prin- 
cesses listened from their balcony; they had been taught the 
Spanish language by their duenna, and were moved by the 
tenderness of the song. The discreet Kadiga, on the contrary, 
was terribly shocked. "Allah preserve us!" cried she, 
" they are singing a love-ditty, addressed to yourselves. Did 
ever mortal hear of such audacity ? I will run to the slave- 
master, and have them soundly bastinadoed." ' 

"What ! bastinado such gallant cavaliers, and for singing 
so charmingly ! " The three beautiful princesses were filled 
with horror at the idea. With all her virtuous indignation, 
the good old woman was of a placable nature, and easily 
appeased. Besides, the music seemed to have a beneficial 
effect upon her young mistresses. A rosy bloom had already 
come to their cheeks, and their eyes began to sparkle. She 
made no further objection, therefore, to the amorous ditty of 
the cavaliers. 

When it was finished^ the princesses remained silent for a 
time; at length Zorayda took up a lute, and with a sweet, 
though faint and trembling voice, warbled a little Arabian air, 
the burden of which was, " The rose is concealed among her 
leaves, but she listens with delight to the song of the night- 
ingale. ' ' 

From this time forward the cavaliers worked almost daily in 
the ravine. The considerate Hussein Baba became more and 
more indulgent, and daily more prone to sleep at his post. 
For some time a vague intercourse was kept up by popular 
songs and romances, which, in some measure, responded to 
each other, and breathed the feelings of the parties. By 

• soundly beaten on the soles of the feet. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRIKCESSES. 127 

degrees the princesses showed themselves at the balcony^ when 
they could do so without being perceived by the guards. 
They conversed with the cavaliers also, by means of flowers, 
with the symbolical language of which they were mutually 
acquainted. The difficulties of their intercourse added to its 
charms, and strengthened the passion they had so singularly 
conceived; for love delights to struggle with difficulties, and 
thrives the most hardily on the scantiest soil. 

The change effected in the looks and spirits of the prin- 
cesses by this secret intercourse surprised and gratified the 
Left-handed king; but no one was more elated than the dis- 
creet Kadiga, who considered it all owing to her able manage- 
ment. 

At length there was an interruption in this telegraphic cor- 
respondence ; for several days the cavaliers ceased to make their 
appearance in the glen. The princesses looked out from the 
tower in vain. In vain they stretched their swan-like necks 
from the balcony; in vain they sang like captive nightingales 
in their cage; nothing was to be seen of their Christian lovers; 
not a note responded from the groves. The discreet Kadiga 
sallied forth in quest of intelligence, and soon returned with a 
face full of trouble. " Ah, my children! " cried she, *' I saw 
what all this would come to, but you would have your way; 
you may now hang up your lutes on the willows. The Span- 
ish cavaliers are ransomed by their families; they are down 
in Granada, and preparing to return to their native country." 

The three beautiful princesses were in despair at the tidings. 
Zayda was indignant at the slight put upon them, in thus 
being deserted without a parting word. Zorayda wrung her 
hands and cried, and looked in the glass, and wiped away her 
tears, and cried afresh. The gentle Zorahayda leaned over 
the balcony and wept in silence, and her tears fell drop by drop 
among the flowers of the bank where the faithless cavaliers had 
so often been seated. ^ 

The discreet Kadiga did all in her power to soothe their sor- 



128 LEGEKD OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

row. " Take comfort, my children/' said she; " this is nothing 
when you are used to it. This is the way of the world. Ah! 
when you are as old as I am, you will know how to value these 
men. I'll warrant these cavaliers have their loves among the 
Spanish beauties of Cordova and Seville, and will soon be 
serenading under their balconies, and thinking no more of the 
Moorish beauties in the Alhambra. Take comfort, therefore, 
my children, and drive them from your hearts." 

The comforting words of the discreet Kadigaonly redoubled 
the distress of the three princesses, and for two days they con- 
tinued inconsolable. On the morning of the third, the good old 
woman entered their apartment, all ruffling with indignation. 

" Who would have believed such insolence in mortal man! " 
exclaimed she, as soon as she could find words to express her- 
self; "but I am rightly served for having connived' at this 
deception of your worthy father. Never talk more to me of 
your Spanish cavaliers." 

" Why, what has happened, good Kadiga? " exclaimed the 
princesses in breathless anxiety. 

" What has happened ? Treason has happened! or, what is 
almost as bad, treason has been proposed ; and to me, the most 
faithful of subjects, the trustiest of duennas! Yes, my chil- 
dren, the Spanish cavaliers have dared to tamper with me, that 
I should persuade you to fly with them to Cordova, and become 
their wives." 

Here the excellent old woman covered her face with her 
hands, and gave way to a violent burst of grief and indigna- 
tion. The three beautiful princesses turned pale and red, pale 
and red, and trembled, and looked down, and cast shy looks 
at each other, but said nothing! Meantime, the old woman 
sat rocking backward and forward in violent agitation, and 
now and then breaking out into exclamations: " That ever I 
should live to be so insulted ! — I, the most faithful of ser- 
vants 1" 

» wiaked at ; failed willingly to see a fault. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 129 

At length the eldest princess, who had most spirit, and 
always took the lead, approached her, and laying her hand 
upon her shoulder, *'Well, mother," said she, "supposing 
we were willing to fly with these Christian cavaliers — is such a 
thing possible? " 

The good old woman paused suddenly in her grief, and 
looking up, " Possible," echoed she; " to be sure it is possible. 
Have not the cavaliers already bribed Hussein Baba, the rene- 
gado captain of the guard, and arranged the whole plan ? 
But, then, to think of deceiving your father — your father, who 
has placed such confidence in me! " Here the worthy woman 
gave way to a fresh burst of grief, and began again to rock 
backward and forward, and to wring her hands. 

" But our father has never placed any confidence in us," 
said the eldest princess, " but has trusted to bolts and bars, 
and treated us as captives." 

'' Why, that is true enough," replied the old woman, again 
pausing in her grief; " he has indeed treated you most unrea- 
sonably, keeping you shut up here, to waste your bloom in a 
moping old tower, like roses left to wither in a flower-jar. 
But, then, to fly from your native land! " 

"And is not the land we fly to, the native land of our 
mother, where we shall live in freedom ? And shall we not 
each have a youthful husband in exchange for a severe old 
father?" 

" Why, that again is all very true; and your father, I must 
confess, is rather tyrannical; but what then," relapsing into 
her grief, " would you leave me behind to bear the brunt of 
his vengeance? " 

"By no means, my good Kadiga; cannot you fly with us ? " 

" Very true, my child; and, to tell the truth, when I talked 
the matter over with Hussein Baba, he promised to take care 
of me, if I would accompany you in your flight; but then, 
bethink you, my children, are you willing to renounce the 
faith of your father ? " 
9 



130 LEGEND OF THE THEEE BEAUTIFUL PKINCESSES. 

" The Christian faith was the original faith of our mother," 
said the eldest princess; " I am ready to embrace it, and so, I 
am sure, are my sisters." 

^' Eight again," exclaimed the old woman, brightening up; 
*' it was the original faith of your mother, and bitterly did she 
lament, on her death-bed, that she had renounced it. I 
promised her then to take care of your souls, and I rejoice to 
see that they are now in a fair way to be saved. Yes, my 
children, I, too, was born a Christian, and have remained a 
Christian in my heart, and am resolved to return to the faith. 
I have talked on the subject with Hussein Baba, who is a 
Spaniard by birth, and comes from a place not far from my 
native town. He is equally anxious to see his own country, 
and to be reconciled to the Church; and the cavaliers have 
promised, that, if we are disposed to become man and wife, on 
returning to our native land, they will provide for us hand- 
somely. " In a word, it appeared that this extremely discreet 
and provident old woman had consulted with the cavaliers and 
the renegade, and had concerted the whole plan of escape. 
The eldest princess immediately assented to it; and her 
example, as usual, determined the conduct of her sisters. It 
is true, the youngest .hesitated, for she was gentle and timid 
of soul, and there was a struggle in her bosom between filial 
feeling and youthful passion; the latter, however, as usual, 
gained the victory, and with silent tears and stifled sighs she 
prepared herself for flight. 

The rugged hill on which the Alhambra is built, was, in 
old times, perforated ^ with subterranean passages, cut through 
the rock, and leading from the fortress to various parts of the 
city, and to distant sally-ports on the banks of the Darro and 
Xenil. They had been constructed at different times by the 
Moorish kings, as means of escape from sudden insurrections, 
or of secretly issuing forth on private enterprises. Many of 
them are now entirely lost, while others remain, partly choked 

» cut through ; pierced. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 131 

with rubbish, and partly walled up; monuments of the jeal- 
ous precautions and warlike stratagems of the Moorish govern- 
ment. By one of these passages, Hussein Baba had under- 
taken to conduct the princesses to a sally-port beyond the walls 
of the city, where the cavaliers were to be ready with fleet 
steeds, to bear the whole party over the borders. 

The appointed night arrived; the tower of the princesses 
had been locked up as usual, and the Alhambra was buried in 
deep sleep. Towards midnight the discreet Kadiga listened 
from the balcony of a window that looked into the garden. 
Hussein Baba, the renegado, was already below, and gave the 
appointed signal. The duenna fastened the end of the ladder 
of ropes to the balcony, lowered it into the garden, and 
descended. The two eldest princesses followed her with beat- 
ing hearts ; but when it came to the turn of the youngest prin- 
cess, Zorahayda, she hesitated, and trembled. Several times 
she ventured a delicate little foot upon the ladder, and as 
often drew it back, while her poor little heart fluttered more 
and more the longer she delayed. She cast a wistful look back 
into the silken chamber; she had lived in it, to be sure, like a 
bird in a cage; but within it she was secure; who could tell 
what dangers might beset her, should she flutter forth into the 
wide world ? Now she bethought her of her gallant Christian 
lover, and her little foot was instantly upon the ladder; and 
anon she thought of her father, and shrank back. But fruit- 
less is the attempt to describe the conflict in the bosom of one so 
young and tender and loving, but so timid, and so ignorant 
of the world. 

In vain her sisters implored, the duenna scolded, and the 
renegado blasphemed beneath the balcony; the gentle little 
Moorish maid stood doubting and wavering on the verge of 
elopement; tempted by the sweetness of the sin, but terrified 
at its perils. 

Every moment increased the danger of discovery. A distant 
tramp was heard. ^^The patrols are walking their rounds," 



132 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PEINCESSES. 

cried the renegade; "if we linger, we perish. Princess, 
descend instantly, or we leave you." 

Zorahayda was for a moment in fearful agitation; then 
loosening the ladder of ropes, with desperate resolution, she 
flung it from the balcony. 

"It is decided !" cried she. "Flight is now out of my 
power! Allah guide and bless ye, my dear sisters ! " 

The two eldest princesses were shocked at the thoughts of 
leaving her behind, and would fain have lingered, but the 
patrol was advancing; the renegado was furious, and they 
were hurried away to the subterraneous passage. They groped 
their way through a fearful labyrinth cut through the heart 
of the mountain, and succeeded in reaching, undiscovered, an 
iron gate that opened outside of the walls. The Spanish cav- 
aliers were waiting to receive them, disguised as Moorish 
soldiers of the guard, commanded by the renegado. 

The lover of Zorahayda was frantic when he learned that 
she had refused to leave the tower; but there was no time to 
waste in lamentations. The two princesses were placed behind 
their lovers, the discreet Kadiga mounted behind the renegado, 
and they all set off at a round pace in the direction of the Pass 
of Lope, which leads through the mountains towards Cor- 
dova. 

They had not proceeded far when they heard the noise of 
drums and trumpets from the battlements of the Alhambra. 

" Our flight is discovered! " said the renegado. 

"We have fleet steeds, the night is dark, and we may dis- 
tance all pursuit," replied the cavaliers. 

They put spurs to their horses, and scoured across the Vega. 
They attained the foot of the Mountain of Elvira, which 
stretches like a promontory into the plain. The renegado 
paused and listened. " As yet," said he, " there is no one on 
our traces; we shall make good our escape to the mountains." 
While he spoke, a light blaze sprang up on the top of the 
watch-tower of the Alhambra. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 183 

" Confusion! " cried the renegado, " that bale ' fire will put 
all the guards of the passes on the alert. Away ! away ! Spur 
like mad ! There is no time to be lost." 

Away they dashed ; the clattering of their horses' hoofs 
echoed from rock to rock, as they swept along the road that 
skirts the rocky Mountain of Elvira. As they galloped on, 
the bale fire of the Alhambra was answered in every direction; 
light after light blazed on the atalayas, or watch-towers, of the 
mountains. 

*' Forward! forward!" cried the renegado, with many an 
oath, ^'to the bridge — to the bridge, before the alarm has 
reached there ! " 

They doubled the promontory of the mountains, and arrived 
in sight of the famous Bridge of Pinos, that crosses a rushing 
stream often dyed with Christian and Moslem blood. To their 
confusion, the tower on the bridge blazed with lights and 
glittered with armed men. The renegado pulled up his steed, 
rose in his stirrups and looked about him for a moment; then 
beckoning to the cavaliers, he struck off from the road, skirted 
the river for some distance, and dashed into its waters. The 
cavaliers called upon the princesses to cling to them, and did 
the same. They were borne for some distance down the rapid 
current, the surges roared round them, but the beautiful prin- 
cesses clung to their Christian knights, and never uttered a 
complaint. The cavaliers attained the opposite bank in safety, 
and were conducted by the renegado, by rude and unfrequented 
paths and wild barrancos, through the heart of the mountains, 
so as to avoid all the regular passes. In a word, they succeeded 
in reaching the ancient city of Cordova, where their restora- 
tion to their country and friends was celebrated with great 
rejoicings, for they were of the noblest families. The beauti- 
ful princesses were forthwith received into the bosom of the 
Church, and, after being in all due form made regular Chris- 
tians, were rendered happy wives. 

» alarm or signal. 



184 LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 

In our hurry to make good the escape of the princesses across 
the river, and up the mountains, we forgot to mention the fate 
of the discreet Kadiga. She had clung like a cat to Hussein 
Baba in the scamper across the Vega, screaming at every bound, 
and drawing many an oath from the whiskered renegado; but 
when he prepared to plunge his steed into the river, her terror 
knew no bounds. " Grasp me not so tightly," cried Hussein 
Baba; *'hold on by my belt and fear nothing." ^She held 
firmly with both hands by the leathern belt that girded the 
broad-backed renegado ; but when he halted with the cavaliers 
to take breath on the mountain summit, the duenna was no 
longer to be seen. 

"What has become of Kadiga?" cried the princesses in 
alarm. 

'* Allah alone knows!" replied the renegado; "my belt 
came loose when in the midst of the river, and Kadiga was 
swept with it down the stream. The will of Allah be done ! 
but it was an embroidered belt, and of great price." 

There was no time to waste in idle regrets ; yet bitterly did 
the princesses bewail the loss of their discreet counsellor. 
That excellent old woman, however, did not lose more than 
half of her nine lives in the water; a fisherman, who was 
drawing his nets some distance down the stream, brought her 
to land, and was not a little astonished at his miraculous 
draught. What further became of the discreet Kadiga, the 
legend does not mention ; certain it is that she evinced her dis- 
cretion in never venturing within the reach of Mohamed the 
Left-handed. 

Almost as little is known of the conduct of that sagacious ^ 
monarch when he discovered the escape of his daughters, and 
the deceit practised upon him by the most faithful of ser- 
vants. It was the only instance in which he had called in the 
aid of counsel, and he was never afterwards known to be guilty 
of a similar weakness. He took good care, however, to guard 

» unusually shrewd or wise. 



LEGEND OF THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESSES. 135 

his remaining daughter, who had no disposition to elope. It is 
thought, indeed, that she secretly repented having remained 
behind. Now and then she was seen leaning on the battlements 
of the tower, and looking mournfully towards the mountains 
in the direction of Cordova, and sometimes the notes of her 
lute were heard accompanying plaintive ditties, in which she 
was said to lament the loss of her sisters and her lover, and 
to bewail her solitary life. She died young, and, according to 
j)opular rumor, was buried in a vault beneath the tower, and 
her untimely fate has given rise to more than one traditionary 
fable. 



LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

For some time after the surrender of Granada by the 
Moors^ that delightful city was a frequent and favorite resi- 
dence of the Spanish sovereigns, until they were frightened 
away by successive shocks of earthquakes, which toppled down 
various houses, and made the old Moslem towers rock to their 
foundation. 

Many, many years then rolled away, during which Granada 
was rarely honored by a royal guest. The palaces of the nobil- 
ity remained silent and shut up; and the Alhambra, like a 
slighted beauty, sat in mournful desolation among her neg- 
lected gardens. The Tower of the Infantas, once the residence 
of the three beautiful Moorish princesses, partook of the gen- 
eral desolation ; the spider spun her web athwart ^ the gilded 
vault, and bats and owls nestled in those chambers that had 
been graced by the presence of Zayda, Zorayda, and Zorahayda. 
The neglect of this tower may partly have been owing to some 
superstitious notions of the neighbors. It was rumored that 
the spirit of the youthful Zorahayda, who had perished in that 
tower, was often seen by moonlight, seated beside the fountain 
in the hall, or moaning about the battlements, and that the 
notes of her silver lute would be heard at midnight by way- 
farers passing along the glen. 

At length the city of Granada was once more welcomed by 
the royal presence. All the world knows that Philip V.'' was 
the first Bourbon that swayed the Spanish sceptre. All the 
world knows that he married, in second nuptials,^ Elizabetta 
or Isabella (for they are the same), the beautiful princess of 
Parma; '* and all the world knows that by this chain of contin- 

1 eidewise ; obliquely ; across. * province in Italy between the Apennines 

2 1683-1746. 3 marriage ceremonies, and the Po river. 



LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 187 

gencies ' a French prince and an Italian princess were seated 
together on the Spanish throne. For a visit of this illustrious 
pair, the Alhambra was repaired and fitted up with all possible 
expedition. The arrival of the court changed the whole aspect 
of the lately deserted palace. The clangor of drum and trum- 
pet, the tramp of steed about the avenues and outer court, 
the glitter of arms and display of banners about barbican and 
battlement, recalled the ancient and warlike glories of the for- 
tress. A softer spirit, however, reigned within the royal palace. 
There was the rustling of robes and the cautious tread and 
murmuring voice of reverential courtiers about the ante- 
chambers; a loitering of pages and maids of honor about the 
gardens, and the sound of music stealing from open casements. 

Among those who attended in the train of the monarchs 
was a favorite page of the queen, named Euyz de Alarcon. To 
say that he was a favorite page of the queen was at once to 
speak his eulogium,'^ for every one in the suite of the stately 
Elizabetta was chosen for grace and beauty and accomplish- 
ments. He was just turned of eighteen, light and lithe of 
form, and graceful as a young Antinous.^ To the queen he 
was all deference and respect, yet he was at heart a roguish 
stripling, petted and spoiled by the ladies about the court, 
and experienced in the ways of women, far beyond his years. 

This loitering page was one morning rambling about the 
groves of the Generalife, which overlook the grounds of the 
Alhambra. He had taken with him for his amusement a 
favorite gerfalcon of the queen. In the course of his rambles, 
seeing a bird rising from a thicket, he unhooded the hawk and 
let him fly. The falcon towered high in the air, made a swoop 
at his quarry, but missing it, soared away, regardless of the 
calls of the page. The latter followed the truant bird with 
his eye, in its capricious * flight, until he saw it alight upon 
the battlements of a remote and lonely tower, in the outer wall 

* unforeseen events. emperor Hadrian ; drowned in the Nile ; 
2 praise. deified. 

• (an-tin'o-us), page and favorite of the * uncertain ; changeable. 



138 LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE" ALHAMBRA. 

of the Alhambra, builfc on the edge of a ravine that separated 
the royal fortress from the grounds of the Generalife. It was 
in fact the " Tower of the Princesses." 

The page descended into the ravine and approached the 
tower, but it had no entrartce from the glen, and its lofty 
height rendered any attempt to scale it fruitless. Seeking 
one of the gates of the fortress, therefore, he made a wide cir- 
cuit to that side of the tower facing within the walls. 

A small garden, inclosed by a trellis-work of reeds over- 
hung with myrtle, lay before the tower. Opening a wicket, 
the page passed between beds of flowers and thickets of roses 
to the door. It was closed and bolted. A crevice in the door 
gave him a peep into the interior. There was a small Moor- 
ish hall with fretted walls, light marble columns, and an 
alabaster fountain surrounded with flowers. In the centre 
hung a gilt cage containing a singing-bird; beneath it, on a 
chair, lay a tortoise-shell cat among reels of silk and other 
articles of female labor; and a guitar decorated with ribbons 
leaned against the fountain. 

Euyz de Alarcon was struck with these traces of female taste 
and elegance in a lonely, and, as he had supposed, deserted 
tower. They reminded him of the tales of enchanted halls 
current in the Alhambra; and the tortoise-shell cat might be 
some spellbound princess. 

He knocked gently at the door. A beautiful face peeped 
out from a little window above, but was instantly withdrawn. 
He waited, expecting that the door would be opened, but he 
waited in vain; no footstep was to be heard within; all was 
silent. Had his senses deceived him, or was this beautiful 
apparition the fairy of the tower? He knocked again, and 
more loudly. After a little while the beaming face once more 
peeped forth; it was that of a blooming damsel of fifteen. 

The page immediately doffed his plumed bonnet, and 
entreated in the most courteous accents to be permitted to 
ascend the tower in pursuit of his falcon. 



LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 189 

** I dare not open the door, senor/' replied the little damsel, 
blushing; " my aunt has forbidden it." 

*'I do beseech you, fair maid; it is the favorite falcon of 
the queen; I dare not return to the palace without it." 

** Are you, then, one of the cavaliers of the court ? " 

" I am, fair maid; but I shall lose the queen's favor and my 
place, if I lose this hawk." 

' ' Santa Maria ! It is against you cavaliers of the court my 
aunt has charged me especially to bar the door." 

** Against wicked cavaliers, doubtless, but I am none of 
these, but a simple, harmless page, who will be mined and 
undone, if you deny me this small request. ' ' 

The heart of the little damsel was touched by the distress of 
the page. It was a thousand pities he should be ruined for 
the want of so trifling a boon. Surely, too, he could not be one 
of those dangerous beings whom her aunt had described as a 
species of cannibal, ever on the prowl to make prey of thought- 
less damsels; he was gentle and modest, and stood so entreat- 
ingly with cap in hand, and looked so charming. 

The sly page saw that the garrison began to waver, and 
redoubled his entreaties in such moving terms that it was not 
in the nature of mortal maiden to deny him; so the blushing 
little warden of the tower descended, and opened the door 
with a trembling hand; and if the page had been charmed by 
a mere glimpse of her countenance ■ from the window, he was 
ravished ' by the full-length portrait now revealed to him. 

Her Andalusian bodice and trim basquina set off the round 
but delicate symmetry ^ of her form, which was as yet scarce 
verging into womanhood. Her glossy hair was parted on her 
forehead with scrupulous^ exactness, and decorated with a 
fresh plucked rose, according to the universal custom of the 
country. It is true her complexion was tinged by the ardor of 
a southern sun, but it served to give richness to the mantling 

' carried away with delight. 8 very careful. 

2 due proportion of the several parts of a body to each other. 



140 LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

bloom of her cheek, and to heighten the lustre of her melting 
eyes. 

Euyz de Alarcon beheld all this with a single glance, for it 
became him not to tarry ; he merely murmured his acknowledg- 
ments, and then bounded lightly up the spiral staircase in 
quest of his falcon. 

He soon returned with the truant bird upon his fist. The 
damsel, in the mean time, had seated herself by the fountain 
in the hall, and was winding silk; but in her agitation' she 
let fall the reel upon the pavement. The page sprang and 
picked it up, then, dropping gracefully on one knee, pre- 
sented it to her; but seizing the hand extended to receive it, 
imprinted on it a kiss more fervent and devout than he had 
ever imprinted on the fair hand of his sovereign. 

''Ave Maria,^ senor! " exclaimed the damsel, blushing still 
deeper with confusion and surprise, for never before had she 
received such a salutation. 

The modest page made a thousand apologies, assuring her it 
was the way, at court, of expressing the most profound hom- 
age and respect. 

Her anger, if anger she felt, was easily pacified, but her 
agitation and embarrassment continued; and she sat blushing 
deeper and deeper, with her eyes cast down upon her -work, 
entangling the silk which she attempted to wind. 

The cunning page saw the confusion in the opposite camp, 
and would fain have profited by it, but the fine speeches he 
would have uttered died upon his lips; his attempts at gal- 
lantry were awkward and ineffectual; and to his surprise, the 
adroit ^ page, who had figured with such grace and effrontery * 
among the most knowing and experienced ladies of the court, 
found himself awed and abashed in the presence of a simple 
damsel of fifteen. 

In fact, the artless maiden, in her own modesty and inno- 

1 excitement ; emotion. ^ skilful ; expert. 

.2 (ah'va mah'ree-ah sa'nyor) Hail Mary, sir. * boldness ; impudence. 



LEGEND OF THE EOSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 141 

cence, had guardians more effectual than the bolts and bars 
prescribed by her ^'igilant aunt. Still, where is the female 
bosom proof against the first whisperings of love ? The little 
damsel, with all her artlessness, instinctively compreliended 
all that the faltering tongue of the page failed to express, and 
her heart was fluttered at beholding, for the first time, a lover 
at her feet — and such a lover ! 

The diffidence^ of the page, though genuine, was short- 
lived, and he was recovering his usual ease and confidence, 
when a shrill voice was heard at a distance. 

"My aunt is returning from mass!" cried the damsel in 
affright. '' I pray you, senor, depart." 

"Not until you grant me that rose from your hair as a 
remembrance." 

She hastily untwisted the rose from her raven locks. ' ' Take 
it," cried she, agitated and blushing, "but pray begone." 

The page took the rose, and at the same time covered with 
kisses the fair hand that gave it. Then, placing the flower in 
his bonnet, and taking the falcon upon his fist, he bounded off 
through the garden, bearing away with him the heart of the 
gentle Jacinta. 

When the vigilant aunt arrived at the tower, she remarked the 
agitation of her neice, and an air of confusion in the hall ; but 
a word of explanation sufficed. "A gerfalcon had pursued 
his prey into the hall. ' ' 

" Mercy on us ! to think of a falcon flying into the tower. 
Did ever one hear of so saucy a hawk ? Why, the very bird in 
the cage is not safe ! " 

The vigilant Fredegonda was one of the most wary of 
ancient spinsters. She had a becoming terror and distrust of 
what she denominated "the opposite sex," which had gradu- 
ally increased through a long life of celibacy.^ Not that the 
good lady had ever suffered from their wiles,' nature having 
set up a safeguard in her face that forbade all trespass upon 

» timidity ; want of confidence. 2 unmarried condition. s tricks for ensnaring. 



ltl:2 LEGEND OP THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

her premises ; but ladies who have least cause to fear for them- 
selves are most ready to keep a watch over their more tempt- 
ing neighbors. 

Th^ niece was the orphan of an officer who had fallen in the 
wars. She had been educated in a convent, and had recently 
been transferred from her sacred asylum to the immediate 
guardianship of her aunt, under whose overshadowing care 
she vegetated in obscurity/ like an opening rose blooming 
beneath a brier. Nor indeed is this comparison entirely acci- 
dental; for, to tell the truth, her fresh and dawning beauty 
had caught the public eye, even in her seclusion, and, with 
that poetical turn common to the people of Andalusia, the 
peasantry of the neighborhood had given her the appellation 
of 'Hhe Rose of the Alhambra. " 

The wary aunt continued to keep a faithful watch over her 
tempting little niece as long as the court continued at Granada, 
and flattered herself that her vigilance had been successful. 
It is true the good lady was now and then discomposed by the 
tinkling of guitars and chanting of love ditties from the 
moonlit groves beneath the tower; but she would exhort her 
niece to shut her ears against such idle minstrelsy, assuring 
her that it was one of the arts of the opposite sex, by which 
simple maids were often lured to their undoing. Alas ! what 
chance with a simple maid has a dry lecture against a moon- 
light serenade ? 

At length King Philip cut short his sojourn at Granada, and 
suddenly departed with all his train. The vigilant Frede- 
gonda watched the royal pageant as it issued forth from the 
Gate of Justice, and descended the great avenue leading to the 
city. When the last banner disappeared from her sight, she 
returned exulting to her tower, for all her cares were over. 
To her surprise, a light Arabian steed pawed the ground at the 
wicket-gate of the garden; to her horror, she saw through 
the thickets of roses a youth, in gayly-embroidered dress, at 

J seclusion from Bociety, 



LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 143 

the feet of her niece. At the sound of her footsteps he gave a 
tender adieu, bounded lightly over the barrier of reeds and 
myrtles, sprang upon his horse, and was out of sight in an 
instant. 

The tender Jacinta, in the agony of her grief, lost all 
thought of her aunt's displeasure. Throwing herself into her 
arms, she broke forth into sobs and tears. 

"Ay de mi!"' cried she; "he's gone! — he's gone! — he's 
gone! and I shall never see him more ! " 

" Gone! — who is gone? — what youth is that I saw at your 
feet?" 

" A queen's page, aunt, who came to bid me farewell." 

" A queen's page, child! " echoed the vigilant Fredegonda, 
faintly; "and when did you become acquainted with the 
queen's page ? " 

" The morning that the gerfalcon came into the tower. It 
was the queen's gerfalcon, and he came in pursuit of it." 

" Ah, silly, silly girl ! know that there are no gerfalcons half 
so dangerous as these young prankling pages, and it is precisely 
such simple birds as thee that they pounce upon." 

The aunt was at first indignant at learning that in despite 
of her boasted vigilance, a tender intercourse had been carried 
on by the youthful lovers, almost beneath her eye; but when 
she found that her simple-hearted niece, though thus exposed, 
without the protection of bolt or bar, to all the machinations'* 
of the opposite sex, had come forth unsinged from the fiery 
ordeal, she consoled herself with the persuasion that it was 
owing to the chaste and cautious maxims in which she had, as 
it were, steeped her to the very lips. 

While the aunt laid this soothing unction to her pride, the 
niece treasured up the oft-repeated vows of fidelity of the page. 
But what is the love of restless, roving man? A vagrant 
stream that dallies for a time with each flower upon its bank, 
then passes on, and leaves them all in tears. 

1 woe is me. ' artful designs or plots. 



144 LEGEND OF THE KOSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

Days^ weeks, months elapsed, and nothing more was heard 
of the page. The pomegranate ' ripened, the vine yielded up 
its fruit, the autumnal rains, descended in torrents from the 
mountains; the Sierra Nevada became covered with a snowy 
mantle, and wintry blasts howled through the halls of the 
Alhambra; still he came not. The winter passed away. 
Again the genial spring burst forth with song and blossom and 
balmy zephyr; the snows melted from the mountains, until 
none remained but on the lofty summit of Nevada, glistening 
through the sultry summer air. Still nothing was heard of 
the forgetful page. 

In the mean time, the poor little Jacinta grew pale and 
thoughtful. Her former occupations and amusements were 
abandoned, her silk lay entangled, her guitar unstrung, her 
flowers were neglected, the notes of her bird unheeded, and 
her eyes, once so bright, were dimmed with secret weeping. 
If any solitude could be devised to foster the passion of a 
love-lorn damsel, it would be such a place as the Alhambra, 
where every thing seems disposed to produce tender and ro- 
mantic reveries. It is a very paradise for lovers. How hard 
then to be alone in such a paradise — and not merely alone, 
but forsaken ! 

''Alas, silly child! " would the staid and immaculate Frede- 
gonda say, when she found her niece in one of her desponding 
moods, " did I not warn thee against the wiles and deceptions "^ 
of these men ? What couldst thou expect, too, from one of a 
haughty and aspiring family — thou an orphan, the descendant 
of a fallen and impoverished line ? Be assured, if the youth 
were true, his father, who is one of the proudest nobles about 
the court, would prohibit his union with one so humble and 
portionless as thou. Pluck up thy resolution, therefore, and 
drive these idle notions from thy mind." 

The words of the immaculate Fredegonda only served to 

1 fruit as large as an orange, with hard ^ acts which deceive, 
rind, soft pulp, and numerous seeds. 



LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 145 

increase the melancholy of her niece, but she sought to indulge 
it in private. At a late hour one midsummer night, after her 
aunt had retired to rest, she remained alone in the hall of the 
tower, seated beside the alabaster fountain. It was here that 
the faithless page had first knelt and kissed her hand; it was 
here that he had often vowed eternal fidelity. The poor little 
damsel's heart was overladen with sad and tender recollections, 
her tears began to flow, and slowly fell drop by drop into the 
fountain. By degrees the crystal water became agitated, and 
— bubble — bubble — bubble — boiled up and was tossed about, 
until a female figure, richly clad in Moorish robes, slowly rose 
to view. 

Jacinta was so frightened that she fled from the hall, and 
did not venture to return. The next morning she related what 
she had seen to her aunt, but the good lady treated it as a 
phantasy ' of her troubled mind, or supposed she had fallen 
asleep and dreamt beside the fountain. "Thou hast been 
thinking of the story of the three Moorish princesses that once 
inhabited this tower," continued she, "and it has entered 
into thy dreams." 

" What story, aunt ? I know nothing of it. " 

" Thou hast certainly heard of the three princesses, Zayda, 
Zorayda, and Zorahayda, who were confined in this tower by 
the king their father, and agreed to fly with three Christian 
cavaliers. The first two accomplished their escape, but the 
third failed in her resolution, and, it is said, died in this 
tower." 

"I now recollect to have heard of it," said Jacinta, "and 
to have wept over the fate of the gentle Zorahayda." 

"Thou mayest well weep over her fate," continued the 
aunt, "for the lover of Zorahayda was thy ancestor. He 
long bemoaned his Moorsh love; but time cured him of his 
grief, and he married a Spanish lady, from whom thou art 
descended." 

1 fancy ; illusion. 
10 



146 LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

Jacinta ruminated upon these words. " That what I have 
seen is no phantasy of the brain," said she to herself, " I am 
confident. If indeed it be the spirit of the gentle Zorahayda, 
which I have heard lingers about this tower, of what should I 
be afraid? I'll watch by the fountain to-night; perhaps the 
visit will be repeated." 

Towards midnight, when every thing was quiet, she again 
took her seat in the hall. As the bell in the distant watch- 
tower of the Alhambra struck the midnight hour, the fountain 
was again agitated; and bubble — bubble — bubble — it tossed 
about the waters until the Moorish female again rose to view. 
She was young and beautiful; her dress was rich with jewels, 
and in her hand she held a silver lute. Jacinta trembled and 
was faint, but was reassured by the soft and plaintive voice of 
the apparition, and the sweet expression of her pale, melan- 
choly countenance. 

^^ Daughter of mortality," said she, ^'what aileth thee? 
Why do thy tears trouble my fountain, and thy sighs and 
plaints disturb the quiet watches of the night ? ' ' 

*' I weep because of the faithlessness of man, and I bemoan 
my solitary and forsaken state." 

" Take comfort; thy sorrows may yet have an end. Thou 
beholdest a Moorish princess, who, like thee, was unhappy in 
her love. A Christian knight, thy ancestor, won my heart, and 
would have borne me to his native land and to the bosom of 
his church. I was a convert in my heart, but I lacked courage 
equal to my faith, and lingered till too late. For this the evil, 
genii are permitted to have power over me, and I will remain 
enchanted in this tower until some pure Christian deign to 
break the magic spell. Wilt thou undertake the task ? " 

^' I will," replied the damsel, trembling. 

"Come hither, then, and fear not; dip thy hand in the 
fountain, sprinkle the water over me, and baptize me after the 
manner of thy faith; so shall the enchantment be dispelled, 
and my troubled spirit have repose." 



LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 147 

The damsel advanced with faltering steps, dipped her hand 
in the fountain, collected water in the palm, and sprinkled it 
over the pale face of the phantom. 

The latter smiled with ineffable' benignity/ She dropped 
her silver lute at the feet of Jacinta, crossed her white arms 
upon her bosom, and melted from sight, so that it seemed 
merely as if a shower of dew-drops had fallen into the fountain. 

Jacinta retired from the hall, filled with awe and wonder. 
She scarcely closed her eyes that night; but when she awoke 
at daybreak out of a troubled slumber, the whole appeared to 
her like a distempered dream. On descending into the hall, 
however, the truth of the vision was established, for beside 
the fountain she beheld the silver lute glittering in the morn- 
ing sunshine. 

She hastened to her aunt, to relate all that had befallen her, 
and called her to behold the lute as a testimonial of the reality 
of her story. If the good lady had any lingering doubts, they 
were removed when Jacinta touched the instrument, for she 
drew forth such ravishing tones as to thaw even the frigid 
bosom of the immaculate Fredegonda, that region of eternal 
winter, into a genial flow. IS^othing but supernatural melody 
could have produced such an effect. 

The extraordinary power of the lute became every day more 
and more apparent. The wayfarer passing by the tower was 
detained, and, as it were, spellbound, in breathless ecstasy. 
The very birds gathered in the neighboring trees, and, hushing 
their own strains, listened in charmed silence. 

Rumor soon spread the news abroad. The inhabitants of 
Granada thronged to the Alhambra to catch a few notes of 
the transcendant music that flowed about the tower of Las 
Infantas. 

The lovely little minstrel was at length drawn forth from 
her retreat. The rich and powerful of the land contended 
who should entertain and do honor to her; or, rather, who 

1 very great ; unspeakably great. 2 kindness. 



148 LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

should secure the charms of her lute to draw fashionable 
throngs to their saloons. AYherever she went, her vigilant aunt 
kept a dragon watch at her elbow, awing the throngs of impas- 
sioned admirers, who hung in raptures on her strains. The 
report of her wonderful powers spread from city to city. 
Malaga, Seville, Cordova, all became successively mad on the 
theme ; nothing was talked of throughout Andalusia but the 
beautiful minstrel of the Alhambra. How could it be other- 
wise among a people so musical and gallant as the Anda- 
lusians, when the lute was magical in its powers, and the 
minstrel inspired by love ! 

While all Andalusia was thus music mad, a different mood 
prevailed at the court of Spain. Philip V., as is well known, 
was a miserable hypochondriac,' and subject to all kinds of 
fancies. Sometimes he would keep to his bed for weeks 
together, groaning under imaginary complaints. At other 
times he would insist upon abdicating his throne, to the great 
annoyance of his royal spouse, who had a strong relish for the 
splendors of a court and the glories of a crown, and guided 
the sceptre of her imbecile^ lord with an expert and steady 
hand. 

Nothing was found to be so efficacious ^- in dispelling the 
royal megrims * as the power of music ; the queen took care, 
therefore, to have the best performers, both vocal and instru- 
mental, at hand, and retained the famous Italian singer Fari- 
nelli about the court as a kind of royal physician. 

At the moment we treat of, however, a freak had come over 
the mind of this sapient and illustrious Bourbon that surpassed 
all former vagaries.^ After a long spell of imaginary illness, 
which set all the strains of Farinelli and the consolations of 
a w^hole orchestra of court fiddlers at defiance, the monarch 
fairly, in idea, gave up the ghost, and considered himself 
absolutely dead. 

1 one affected with low spirits. ^ effectual ; powerful. * fancies ; freaks. 

3 weak ; feeble minded. ^ (vay-gay'riz), wild freaks ; whims. 



LEGEND OF THE ROSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 149 

This would have been harmless enough, and even convenient 
both to his queen and courtiers, had he been content to remain 
in the quietude befitting a dead man; but to their annoyance 
he insisted upon having the funeral ceremonies performed over 
him, and, to their inexpressible perplexity, began to grow 
impatient, and to revile bitterly at them for negligence and 
disrespect in leaving him unburied. What was to be done ? 
To disobey the king's positive commands was monstrous in the 
eyes of the obsequious courtiers of a punctilious court — but to 
obey him, and bury him alive, would be downright regicide. ^ 

In the midst of this fearful dilemma "^ a rumor reached the 
court, of the female minstrel who was turning the brains of 
all Andalusia. The queen despatched missions in all haste to 
summon her to St. Ildefonso, where the court at that time 
resided. 

Within a few days, as the queen with her maids of honor 
was walking in those stately gardens, intended, with their 
avenues and terraces and fountains, to eclipse the glories of 
Versailles,^ the far-famed minstrel was conducted into her 
presence. The imperial Elizabetta gazed with surprise at the 
youthful and unpretending appearance of the little being that 
had set the world madding. She was in her picturesque An- 
dalusian dress, her silver lute in hand, and stood with modest 
and downcast eyes, but with a simplicity and freshness of 
beauty that still bespoke her " the Eose of the Alhambra." 

As usual, she was accompanied by her ever-vigilant Frede- 
gonda, who gave the whole history of her parentage and descent 
to the inquiring queen. If the stately Elizabetta had been 
interested by the appearance of Jacinta, she was still more 
pleased when she learnt that she was of a meritorious though 
impoverished " line, and that her father had bravely fallen in 
the service of the crown. " If thy powers equal their renown, " 

* murder of a king. containing the famous royal palace built by 

2 perplexity how to decide. Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. 

3 eleven miles west southwest of Paris, *poor. 



160 LEGEND OF THE KOSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

said she, "and thou canst cast forth this evil spirit that pos- 
sesses thy sovereign, thy fortunes shall henceforth be my care, 
and honors and wealth attend thee." 

Impatient to make trial of her skill, she led the way at once 
to the apartment of the moody monarch. 

Jacinta followed, with downcast eyes, through files of guards 
and crowds of courtiers. They arrived at length at a great 
chamber hung with black. The windows were closed to 
exclude the light of day; a number of yellow wax tapers in 
silver sconces^ diffused a lugubrious^ light, and dimly revealed 
the figures of mutes in mourning dresses, and courtiers who 
glided about with noiseless step and woebegone visage. In the 
midst of a funeral bed or bier, his hands folded on his breast, 
and the tip of his nose just visible, lay extended this would-be 
buried monarch. 

The queen entered the chamber in silence, and pointing to a 
footstool in an obscure corner, beckoned to Jacinta to sit down 
and commence. 

At first she touched her lute with a faltering hand, but 
gathering confidence and animation as she proceeded, drew 
forth such soft aerial ^ harmony that all present could scarce 
believe it mortal. As to the monarch, who had already con- 
sidered himself in the world of spirits, he set it down for 
some angelic melody or the music of the spheres.* By degrees 
the theme was varied, and the voice of the minstrel accom- 
panied the instrument. She poured forth one of the legendary 
ballads treating of the ancient glories of the Alhambra and 
the achievements of the Moors. Her whole soul entered into 
the theme, for with the recollections of the Alhambra was 
associated the story of her love. The funeral chamber 
resounded with the animating strain. It entered into the 
gloomy heart of the monarch. He raised his head and gazed 

* lanterns. * the harmony supposed by the ancients 

2 mournful. to be produced by the accordant movements 

3 high ; lofty. of the celestial bodies. 



LEGEND OF THE EOSE OF THE ALHAMBEA. 151 

around; he sat up on his couch; his eye began to kindle; at 
length, leaping upon the floor, he called for sword and buckler. 

The triumph of music, or, rather, of the enchanted lute, was 
complete; the demon of melancholy was cast forth; and, as it 
were, a dead man brought to life. The windows of the apart- 
ment were thrown open ; the glorious effulgence ^ of Spanish 
sunshine burst into the late lugubrious chamber; all eyes 
sought the lovely enchantress, but the lute had fallen from her 
hand; she had sunk upon the earth, and the next moment 
was clasped to the bosom of Ruyz de Alarcon. 

The nuptials of the happy couple were celebrated soon after- 
ward with great splendor, and the Eose of the Alhambra 
became the ornament and delight of the court. " But hold — 
not so fast," I hear the reader exclaim; ^^this is jumping to 
the end of a story at a furious rate ! First let us know how 
the Ruyz de Alarcon managed to account to Jacinta for his 
long neglect." Nothing more easy; the venerable, time- 
honored excuse, the opposition to his wishes by a proud, prag- 
matical * old father ; besides, young people who really like one 
another soon come to the amicable understanding, and bury 
all past grievances when once they meet. 

But how was the proud, pragmatical old father reconciled to 
the match ? 

Oh ! as to that, his scruples were easily overcome by a word 
or two from the queen; especially as dignities and rewards 
were showered upon the blooming favorite of royalty. Besides, 
the lute of Jacinta, you know, possessed a magic power, and 
could control the most stubborn head and hardest breast. 

And what came of the enchanted lute ? 

Oh, that is the most curious matter of all, and plainly proves 
the truth of the whole story. That lute remained for some 
time in the family, but was purloined ^ and carried off, as was 
supposed, by the great singer Farinelli, in pure jealousy. At 
his death it passed into other hands in Italy, who were ignorant 

* brightness. ' meddlesome (so regarded). ' stolen. 



152 LEGEND OF THE EOSE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 

of its mystic powers, and, melting down the silver, transferred 
the strings to an old Cremona ^ fiddle. The strings still retain 
something of their magic virtues. A word in the reader's 
ear, but let it go no further — that fiddle is now bewitching the 
whole world ; it is the fiddle of Paganini ! ^ 

1 fortified city of Italy, forty-eight miles 2 (pah-gah-nee'nee), celebrated Italian vi- 

southeast of Milan. olinist, 1784-1840. 



THE GOVERNOE AND THE NOTARY. 

Ik former times there ruled, as governor of the Alhambra, 
a doughty ' old cavalier, who, from having lost one arm in the 
wars, was commonly known by the name of el Gobernador 
Manco, or ''the one-armed governor." He, in fact, prided 
himself upon being an old soldier, wore his mustaches curled up 
to his eyes, a pair of campaigning boots, and a Toledo ^ as long 
as a spit,^ with his pocket-handkerchief in the basket hilt." 

He was, moreover, exceedingly proud and punctilious, and 
tenacious ^ of all his privileges and dignities. Under his sway 
the immunities^ of the Alhambra as a royal residence and 
domain were rigidly exacted. No one was permitted to enter 
the fortress with firearms, or even with a sword or staff, unless 
he were of a certain rank ; and every horseman was obliged to 
dismount at the gate, and lead his horse by the bridle. Now 
as the hill of the Alhambra rises from th% very midst of the 
city of Granada, being, as it were, an excrescence ' of the capital, 
it must at all times be somewhat irksome ^ to the captain-gen- 
eral, who commands the province, to have thus an imperium 
in imperio,^ a petty, independent post, in the very centre of his 
domains. It was rendered the more galling, in the present 
instance, from the irritable jealousy of the old governor, that 
took fire on the least question of authority and jurisdiction; 
and from the loose, vagrant character of the people who had 
gradually nestled themselves within the fortress, as in a sanc- 
tuary, and thence carried on a system of roguery and depreda- 
tion at the expense of the honest inhabitants of the city. 

' strong ; valiant. * keeping firm hold. 

2 sword made at Toledo. * special privileges or exemptions. 

3 long, pointed iron rod for roasting meat. ' an irregular growth. 
* cover for hand around the handle or hilt ^ tiresome ; annoying. 

of a sword. ^ empire within an empire. 



154 THE GOVERNOR AND THE NOTARY. 

Thus there was a perpetual feud and heart-burning between 
the captain-general and the governor, the more virulent on 
the part of the latter, inasmuch as the smaller of two neigh- 
boring potentates is always the most captious about his dignity. 
The stately palace of the captain-general stood in the Plaza 
Nueva, immediately at the foot of the hill of the Alhambra, 
and here was always a bustle and parade of guards and do- 
mestics and city functionaries.^ A beetling bastion^ of the 
fortress overlooked the palace and public square in front of it; 
and on this bastion the old governor would occasionally strut 
backwards and forwards, with his Toledo girded by his side, 
keeping a wary eye down upon his rival, like a hawk recon- 
noitering his quarry ^ from his nest in a dry tree. 

Whenever he descended into the city it was in grand parade, 
on horseback, surrounded by his guards, or in his state coach, 
an ancient and unwieldy Spanish edifice of carved timber and 
gilt leather, drawn by eight mules, with running footmen, 
outriders, and lackey ; on which occasions he flattered himself 
he impressed every beholder with awe and admiration as vice- 
gerent of the king; though the wits of Granada, particularly 
those who loitered about the palace of the captain-general, 
were apt to sneer at his petty parade, and, in allusion to the 
vagrant character of his subjects, to greet him with the appel- 
lation "the king of the beggars." One of the most fruitful 
sources of dispute between these two doughty rivals was the 
right claimed by the governor to have all things passed free of 
duty through the city, that were intended for the use of him- 
self or his garrison. By degrees the privilege had given rise to 
extensive smuggling. A nest of contrabandistas took up their 
abode in the hovels of the fortress and the numerous caves in 
its vicinity, and drove a thriving business under the conni- 
vance of the soldiers of the garrison. 

The vigilance of the captain -general was aroused. He con- 

1 persons holding office ; officers. 3 animal hunted for. 

2 projecting portion of fort. 



THE GOVERNOR AND THE NOTARY. 155 

suited his legal adviser and factotum, a shrewd, meddlesome 
escribano, or notary, who rejoiced in an opportunity of per- 
plexing the old potentate of the Alhambra, and involving him 
in a maze of legal subtilties.' He advised the captain-general 
to insist upon the right of examining every convoy ^ passing 
through the gates of his city, and penned a long letter for him 
in vindication of the right. Governor Manco was a straight- 
forward, cut-and-thrust old soldier, who hated an escribano 
worse than the devil, and this one in particular worse than all 
other escribanos. 

" What! " said he, curling up his mustaches fiercely, *' does 
the captain-general set his man of the pen to practise confu- 
sions upon me ? I'll let him see an old soldier is not to be 
baffled by Schoolcraft." 

He seized his pen and scrawled a short letter in a crabbed 
hand, in which, without deigning ^ to enter into argument, he 
Insisted on the right of transit free of search, and denounced 
vengeance on any custom-house officer who should lay his 
unhallowed hand on any convoy protected by the flag of the 
Alhambra. While this question was agitated between the 
two pragmatical potentates, it so happened that a mule laden 
with supplies for the fortress arrived one day at the gate of 
Xenil, by which it was to traverse a suburb of the city, on 
its way to the Alhambra. The convoy was headed by a testy 
old corporal, who had long served under the governor, and 
was a man after his own heart; as rusty and stanch as an old 
Toledo blade. 

As they approached the gate of the city, the corporal placed 
the banner of the Alhambra on the pack-saddle of the mule, 
and, drawing himself up to a perfect perpendicular, advanced 
with his head dressed to the front, but with the wary side- 
glance of a cur passing through hostile ground, and ready for 
a snap and a snarl. 

1 tricks ; artifices. ' stooping ; condescending. 

" train of wagons engaged in transportation, having an armed escort. 



156 THE GOVEENOR AND THE NOTARY. 



a 



Who goes there ? " said the sentinel at the gate. 
Soldier of the Alhambra ! " said the corporal, without 
turning his head. 

" What have you in charge ? " 

*' Provisions for the garrison." 

^'Proceed." 

The corporal marched straight forward, followed by the con- 
voy, but had not advanced many paces before a posse ^ of 
custom-house officers rushed out of a small toll-house. 

" Hallo there ! " cried the leader. " Muleteer, halt, and open 
those packages." 

The corporal wheeled round, and drew himself up in battle 
array. " Eespect the flag of the Alhambra," said he; " these 
things are for the governor." 

^' A fig for the governor, and a fig for his flag. Muleteer, 
halt, I say." 

'' Stop the convoy at your peril ! " cried the corporal, cocking 
his musket. " Muleteer, proceed." 

The muleteer gave his beast a hearty thwack; the custom- 
house officer sprang forward and seized the halter ; whereupon 
the corporal levelled his piece, and shot him dead. 

The street was immediately in an uproar. 

The old corporal was seized, and after undergoing sundry 
kicks and cuffs and cudgellings, which are generally given 
impromptu ^ by the mob in Spain, as a foretaste of the after 
penalties of the law, he was loaded with irons, and conducted 
to the city prison; while his comrades were permitted to pro- 
ceed with the convoy, after it had been well rummaged, to the 
Alhambra. 

The old governor was in a towering passion when he heard 
of this insult to his flag and capture of his corporal. Por 
a time he stormed about the Moorish halls, and vapored 
about the bastions, and looked down fire and sword upon the 
palace of the captain-general. Having vented the first ebulli- 

1 number ; group ; squad. 2 off-haud ; without previous arrangement. 



THE GOVERNOR AND THE NOTARY. 167 

tion * of his wrath, he despatched a message demanding the sur- 
render of the corporal, as to him alone belonged the right of 
Bitting in judgment on the offences of those under his com- 
mand. The captain-general, aided by the pen of the delighted 
escribano, replied at great length, arguing that as the offence 
had been committed within the walls of his city, and against one 
of his civil officers, it was clearly within his proper jurisdic- 
tion. The governor rejoined by a repetition of his demand; 
the captain-general gave a sur-rejoinder '^ of still greater length 
and legal acumen ; ^ the governor became hotter and more 
peremptory in his demands, and the captain-general cooler and 
more copious in his replies; until the old lion-hearted soldier 
absolutely roared with fury at being thus entangled in the 
meshes of legal controversy. 

While the subtle escribano was thus amusing himself at the 
expense of the governor, he was conducting the trial of the 
corporal, who, mewed up in a narrow dungeon of the prison, 
had merely a small grated window at which to show his iron- 
bound visage, and receive the consolations of his friends. 

A mountain of written testimony was diligently heaped up, 
according to Spanish form, by the indefatigable* escribano; 
the corporal was completely overwhelmed by it. He was con- 
victed of murder, and sentenced to be hanged. 

It was in vain the governor sent down remonstrance and 
menace from the Alhambra. The fatal day was at hand, and 
the corporal was put in capilla, that is to say, in the chapel of 
the prison, as is always done with culprits the day before 
execution, that they may meditate on their approaching end 
and repent them of their sins. 

Seeing things drawing to extremity, the old governor deter- 
mined to attend to the affair in person. For this purpose he 
ordered out his carriage of state, and, surrounded by his 
guards, rumbled down the avenue of the Alhambra into the 

1 violent display ; sudden outburst. ^ shrewdness ; keenness. 

2 answer to a rejoinder. * tireless. 



158 THE GOVERNOR AND THE NOTARY. 

city. Driving to the house of the escribano, he summoned 
him to the portal. 

The eye of the old governor gleamed like a coal at beholding 
the smirking man of the law advancing with an air of exulta- 
tion. ' 

^' What is this I hear," cried he, '' that you are about to put 
to death one of my soldiers ? ' ' 

"All according to law; all in strict form of justice," said 
the self-sufficient escribano, chuckling and rubbing his hands. 
" I can show your excellency the written testimony in the 
case." 

' ' Fetch it hither, ' ' said the governor. The escribano bustled 
into his office, delighted with having another opportunity of 
displaying his ingenuity*"' at the expense of the hard-headed 
veteran. 

He returned with a satchel full of papers, and began to read 
a long deposition with professional volubility. By this time a 
crowd had collected, listening vi^ith outstretched necks and 
gaping mouths. 

" Prithee, man, get into the carriage, out of this pestilent 
throng, that I may the better hear thee," said the governor. 

The escribano entered the carriage, when, in a twinkling, 
the door was closed; the coachman smacked his whip; mules, 
carriage, guards and all dashed off at a thundering rate, leav- 
ing the crowd in gaping wonderment; nor did the governor 
pause until he had lodged his prey in one of the strongest 
dungeons of the Alhambra. 

He then sent down a flag of truce in military style, proposing 
a cartel or exchange of prisoners — the corporal for the notary. 
The pride of the captain-general was piqued; he returned a 
contemptuous ^ refusal, and forthwith caused a gallows, tall and 
strong, to be erected in the centre of the Plaza Nueva, for the 
execution of the corporal. 

" Oho! Is that the game ? " said Governor Manco. He gave 

» triumph. 2 power of ready invention. s scornful. 



THE GOVEKNOR AND THE NOTARY. 159 

orders, and immediately a gibbet was reared on the verge of 
the great beetling bastion that overlooked the Plaza. " Now, " 
said he in a message to the captain-general, " hang my soldier 
when you please; but at the same time that he is swung off in the 
square, look up to see your escribano dangling against the sky. " 

The captain-general was inflexible ; ^ troops were paraded in 
the square; the drums beat; the bell tolled. An immense mul- 
titude of amateurs gathered together to behold the execution. 
On the other hand, the governor paraded his garrison on the 
bastion, and tolled the funeral dirge of the notary from the 
Torre de la Campana, or Tower of the Bell. 

The notary's wife pressed through the crowd with a whole 
progeny of little embryo escribanos at her heels, and throwing 
herself at the feet of the captain-general, implored him not to 
sacrifice the life of her husband, and the welfare of herself 
and her numerous little ones, to a point of pride. " For you 
know the old governor too Avell," said she, " to doubt that he 
will put his threat in execution, if you hang the soldier." 

The captain-general was overpowered by her tears and 
lamentations, and the clamors of her callow brood. The cor- 
poral was sent up to the Alhambra, under a guard, in his 
gallows garb, like hooded friar, but with head erect and a face 
of iron. The escribano was demanded in exchange, according 
to the cartel. The once bustling and self-sufficient man of the 
law was drawn forth from his dungeon more dead than alive. 
All his flippancy and conceit had evaporated;'^ his hair, it is 
said, had nearly turned gray with affright, and he had a down- 
cast, dogged look, as if he still felt the halter round his neck. 

The old governor stuck his one arm akimbo, and for a 
moment surveyed him with an iron smile. " Henceforth, my 
friend," said he, '' moderate your zeal in hurrying others to 
the gallows; be not too certain of your safety, even though you 
should have the law on your side; and above all, take care how 
yoii play off your schoolcraft another time upon an old soldier." 

1 unbending ; determined. a disappeared (literally in vapor). 



GOVERNOE MANGO AND THE SOLDIEE. 

While Governor Manco, or "the one-armed," kept up a 
show of military state in the Alhambra, he became nettled at 
the reproaches continually cast upon his fortress, of being a 
nestling place of rogues and contrabandistas. On a sudden, 
the old potentate determined on reform, and, setting vigor- 
ously to work, ejected whole nests of vagabonds out of the 
fortress and the gypsy caves with which the surrounding hills 
are honeycombed. He sent out soldiers, also, to patrol the 
avenues and footpaths, with orders to take up all suspicious 
persons. 

One bright summer morning, a patrol, consisting of the testy 
old corporal who had distinguished himself in the affair of the 
notary, a trumpeter and two privates, was seated under the 
garden wall of the Generalife, beside the road which leads 
down, from the mountain of the sun, when they heard the 
tramp of a horse, and a male voice singing in rough, though 
not unmusical tones, an old Castilian campaigning song. 

Presently they beheld a sturdy, sunburnt fellow, clad in the 
ragged garb of a foot-soldier, leading a powerful Arabian horse, 
caparisoned 'in the ancient Moresco fashion. 

Astonished at the sight of a strange soldier descending, steed 
in hand, from that solitary mountain, the corporal stepped 
forth and challenged him. 

" AVho goes there ? " 

"A friend." 

*' Who and what are you ? " 

' ' A poor soldier just from the wars, with a cracked crown 
and empty purse for a reward." 

By this time they were enabled to view him more narrowly. 
He had a black patch across his forehead, which, with a grizzled 



GOVERNOR MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 161 

beard, added to a certain dare-devil cast of countenance, wliile 
a slight squint threw into the whole an occasional gleam of 
roguish good humor. 

Having answered the questions of the patrol, the soldier 
seemed to consider himself entitled to make others in return. 
** May I ask," said he, '^ what city is that which I see at the 
foot of the hill?" 

^'AVhat city?" cried the trumpeter. "Come, that's too 
bad. Here's a fellow lurking about the mountain of the sun, 
and demands the name of the great city of Granada! " 

^* G-ranada! can it be possible ? " 

** Perhaps not!" rejoined the trumpeter; *^and perhaps 
you have no idea that yonder are the towers of the Alham- 
bra." 

'*Son of a trumpet," replied the stranger, *'do not trifle 
with me; if this be indeed the Alhambra, I have some strange 
matters to reveal to the governor." 

" You will have an opportunity," said the corporal, " for we 
mean to take you before him." By this time the trumpeter 
had seized the bridle of the steed, the two privates had each 
secured an arm of the soldier, the corporal put himself in 
front, gave the word, ^'Forward — march!" and away they 
marched for the Alhambiia. 

The sight of a ragged foot-soldier and a fine Arabian horse, 
brought in captive by the patrol, attracted the attention of 
all the idlers of the fortress, and of those gossip groups that 
generally assemble about wells and fountains at early dawn. 
The wheel of the cistern paused in its rotations, and the slip- 
shod servant-maid stood gaping, with pitcher in hand, as the 
corporal passed by with his prize. A motley train gradually 
gathered in the rear of the escort. 

Knowing nods and winks and conjectures passed from one 
to another. ^'It is a deserter," said one; "a contraband- 
ista," said another; "a bandalero,"* said the third; until 

1 highway robber. 
11 



162 GOVERNOR MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 

it was affirmed that the captain of a desperate band of robbers 
had been captured by the prowess ^ of the corporal and his 
patrol. "Well, well," said the old crones, one to another, 
" captain or not, let him get out of the grasp of old Governor 
Man CO if he can, though he is but one-handed." 

Governor Manco was seated in one of the inner halls of the 
Alhambra, taking his morning's cup of chocolate in company 
with his confessor, a fat Franciscan friar from the neighbor- 
ing convent. A demure, dark-eyed damsel of Malaga,^ the 
daughter of his housekeeper, was attending upon him. The 
world hinted that the damsel, who, with all her demureness, 
was a sly, buxom baggage, had found out a soft spot in the 
iron heart of the old governor, and held complete control over 
him. But let that pass ; the domestic affairs of these mighty 
potentates of the earth should not be too narrowly scrutinized.^ 

When word was brought that a suspicious stranger had been 
taken lurking about the fortress, and was actually in the outer 
court, in durance * of the corporal, waiting the pleasure of his 
excellency, the pride and stateliness of office swelled the bosom 
of the governor. Giving back his chocolate cup into the hands 
of the demure damsel, he called for his basket-hilted sword, 
girded it to his side, twirled up his mustaches, took his seat 
in a large high-backed chair, assumed a bitter and forbidding 
aspect, and ordered the prisoner into his presence. The soldier 
was brought in, still closely pinioned by his captors, and guarded 
by the corporal. He maintained, however, a resolute self-con- 
fident air, and returned the sharp, scrutinizing look of the 
governor with an easy squint, which by no means pleased the 
punctilious old potentate. 

'^Well, culprit," said the governor, after he had regarded 
him for a moment in silence, " what have you to say for your- 
self — who are you?" 

1 gallantry ; fearlessness of danger. 3 examined very carefully. 

2 seaport city on a bay of the Mediterranean, ^ custody ; guarding, 
sixty-five miles east northeast of Gibraltar, 



GOVERNOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 163 

'^A soldier, just from the wars, who has brought away 
nothing but scars and bruises. " 

" A soldier ? Humph ! A foot-soldier by your garb. I under- 
stand you have a fine Arabian horse. I presume you brought 
him too from the wars, besides your scars and bruises." 

^' May it please your excellency, I have something strange 
to tell about that horse. Indeed I have one of the most won- 
derful things to relate. Something, too, that concerns the 
security of this fortress, indeed of all Granada. But it is a 
matter to be imparted only to your private ear, or in the pres- 
ence of such only as are in your confidence." 

The governor considered for a moment, and then directed 
the corporal and his men to withdraw, but to post themselves 
outside of the door, and be ready at a call. " This holy 
friar," said he, '^is my confessor; you may say anything in 
his presence; and this damsel," nodding towards the hand- 
maid, who had loitered with an air of great curiosity — "this 
damsel is of great secrecy and discretion, and to be trusted 
with anything." 

The soldier gave a glance between a squint and a leer at the 
demure handmaid. "I am perfectly willing," said he, "that 
the damsel should remain." 

AVhen all the rest had withdrawn, the soldier commenced 
his story. He was a fluent, smooth-tongued varlet, and had 
a command of language above his apparent rank. 

"May it please your excellency," said he, "I am, as I 
before observed, a soldier, and have seen some hard service; 
but my term of enlistment being expired, I was discharged, 
not long since, from the army at Yalladolid,^ and set out on 
foot for my native village in Andalusia. Yesterday evening 
the sun went down as I was traversing a great dry plain of Old 
Castile." 

"Hold! " cried the governor. " What is this you say? Old 
Castile is some two or three hundred miles from this." 

' city of Spain, one hundred miles northwest of Madrid. CoUimbus died here in 1506. 



164 GOVERNOR MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 

*'Eyen so," replied the soldier, coolly; ^'I told your excel- 
lency I had strange things to relate; but not more strange 
than true ; as your excellency will find, if you will deign me a 
patient hearing." 

" Proceed, culprit," said the governor, twirling up his mus- 
taches. 

"As the sun went down," continued the soldier, "least 
my eyes about in search of quarters for the night, but as far 
as my sight could reach, there were no signs of habitation. I 
saw that I should have to make my bed on the naked plain, 
with my knapsack for a pillow; but your excellency is an old 
soldier, and knows that, to one who has been in the wars, such 
a night's lodging is no great hardship." 

The governor nodded assent, as he drew his pocket-handker- 
chief out of the basket hilt, to drive away a fly that buzzed 
about his nose. 

" Well, to make a long story short," continued the soldier, 
" I trudged forward for several miles until I came to a bridge 
over a deep ravine, through which ran a little thread of water, 
almost dried up by the summer heat. At one end of the 
bridge was a Moorish tower, the upper end all in ruins, but 
a vault in the foundation quite entire. Here, thinks I, is a 
good place to make a halt; so I went down to the stream, 
took a hearty drink, for the water was pure and sweet, and I 
was parched with thirst ; then, opening my wallet, I took out 
an onion and a few crusts, which were all my provisions, and 
seating myself on a stone on the margin of the stream, began 
to make my supper, intending afterwards to quarter myself 
for the night in the vault of the tower; and capital quarters 
they would have been for a campaigner just from, the wars, as 
your excellency, who ia an old soldier, may suppose." 

"I have put up gladly with worse in my time," said the 
governor, returning his pocket-handkerchief into the hilt of 
his sword. 

"While I was quietly crunching my crust," pursued the 



GOVEENOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 165 

soldier, " I heard something stir within the yanlt. I listened; 
it was the tramp of a horse. By and by a man came forth 
from a door in the foundation of the tower, close by the 
water's edge, leading a powerful horse by the bridle. I could 
not well make out what he was by the starlight. It had a 
suspicious look to be lurking among the ruins of a tower, in 
that wild, solitary place. He might be a mere wayfarer, like 
myself; he might be a contrabandista ; he might be a banda- 
lero ! What of that ? Thank heaven and my poverty, I had 
nothing to lose ; so I sat still and crunched my crust. 

'' He led his horse to the water, close by where I was sitting, 
BO that I had a fair opportunity of reconnoitering him. To 
my surprise he was dressed in a Moorish garb, with a cuirass of 
steel, and a polished skull-cap that I distinguished by the 
reflection of the stars upon it. His horse, too, was harnessed 
in the Moresco fashion, with great shovel stirrups. He led 
him, as I said, to the side of the stream, into which the ani- 
mal plunged his head almost to the eyes, and drank until I 
thought he would have burst. 

*'' Comrade,' said I, ^your steed drinks well; it's a good 
sign when a horse plunges his muzzle bravely into the water. ' 

" ' He may well drink,' said the stranger, speaking with a 
Moorish accent ; ' it is a good year since he had his last 
draught. ' 

" ' By Santiago,' ' said I, ' that beats even the camels I have 
seen in Africa. But come, you seem to be something of a 
soldier; will you sit down and take part of a soldier's fare?' 
In fact, I felt the want of a companion in this lonely place, 
and was willing to put up with an infidel. Besides, as your 
excellency well knows, a soldier is never very particular about 
the faith of his company, and soldiers of all countries are 
comrades on peaceable ground." 

The governor again nodded assent. 

"Well, as I was saying, I invited him to share my supper, 

' Saint Jago (Saint James). 



166 GOVERNOR MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 

such as it was, for I could not do less in common hospitality. 
' I have no time to pause for meat or drink/ said he; ' I have 
a long journey to make before morning.' 

" * In which direction ? ' said I. 

" ' Andalusia,' said he. 

" ^ Exactly my route,' said I; * so, as you won't stop and eat 
with me, perhaps you will let me mount and ride with you. I 
see your horse is of a powerful frame, I'll warrant he'll carry 
double. ' 

^''Agreed,' said the trooper; and it would not have been 
civil and soldierlike to refuse, especially as I had offered to 
share my supper with him. So up he mounted, and up I 
mounted behind him. 

" ' Hold fast,' said he; ' my steed goes like the wind.' 

" ' Never fear me,' said I, and so off we set. 

" From a walk the horse soon passed to a trot, from a trot 
to a gallop, and from a gallop to a harum-scarum scamper. It 
seemed as if rocks, trees, houses, every thing, flew hurry- 
scurry behind us. 

'' ' What town is this ? ' said I. 

** * Segovia,' ^ said he; and before the word was out of his 
mouth, the towers of Segovia were out of sight. We swept 
up the Guadarama "^ Mountains, and down by the Escurial; ^ 
and we skirted the walls of Madrid,* and we scoured away 
across the plains of La Mancha. In this way we went up hill 
and down dale, by towers and cities, all buried in deep sleep, 
and across mountains and plains and rivers just glimmering 
in the starlight. 

" To make a long story short, and not to fatigue your excel- 
lency, the trooper suddenly pulled up on the side of a moun- 

' in Old Castile, forty-five miles northwest a magnificent mausoleum for the members 

of Madrid. of the royal family, and an extensive coUec- 

2nameof mountains northwest of Madrid, tionof rare paintings, books, etc. It was 

Sname of town and province northwest set on fire by lightning and partially de- 

of Madrid. Remarkable for the celebrated stroyed in 1872. 

monastery and palace of the Escurial in its * capital of Spain, in central part, on Man- 
vicinity, built by Philip 11., which contains zanares River. 



GOVERNOE MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 167 

tain. ' Here we are/ said he, ' at the end of our journey.' I 
looked about, but could see no signs of habitation; nothing 
but the mouth of a cavern. While I looked, I saw multitudes 
of people in Moorish dresses, some on horseback, some on 
foot, arriving, as if borne by the wind, from all points of the 
compass, and hurrying into the mouth of the cavern like bees 
into a hive. Before I could ask a question, the trooper struck 
his long Moorish spurs into the horse's flanks, and dashed in 
with the throng. We passed along a steep winding way that 
descended into the very bowels of the mountain. As we 
pushed on, a light began to glimmer up, by little and little, 
like the first glimmerings of day; but what caused it I could 
not discern. It grew stronger and stronger, and enabled me 
to see every thing around. I now noticed, as we passed along, 
great caverns, opening to the right and left, like halls in an 
arsenal. In some there were shields and helmets and cui- 
rasses and lances and cimeters, hanging against the walls; in 
others were great heaps of warlike munitions and camp 
equipage lying upon the ground. 

^' It would have done your excellency's heart good, being an 
old soldier, to have seen such grand provision for war. Then, 
in other caverns, there were long rows of horsemen armed to 
the teeth, with lances raised and banners unfurled, all ready 
for the field; but they all sat motionless in their saddles, like 
so many statues. In other halls were warriors sleeping on the 
ground beside their horses, and foot-soldiers in groups ready 
to fall into the ranks. All were in old-fashioned Moorish 
dresses and armor. 

"Well, your excellency, to cut a long story short, we at 
length entered an immense cavern, or I may say palace, of 
grotto work, the walls of which seemed to be veined with 
gold and silver, and to sparkle with diamonds and sapphires 
and all kinds of precious stones. At the upper end sat a 
Moorish king on a golden throne, with his nobles on each side, 
and a guard of African blacks with drawn cimeters. All the 



168 GOVERNOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 

crowd that continued to flock in, and amounted to thousands 
and thousands, passed one by one before his throne, each pay- 
ing homage as he passed. Some of the multitude were dressed 
in magnificent robes, without stain or blemish, and sparkling 
with jewels; others in burnished and enamelled armor; while 
others were in mouldered and mildewed garments, and in 
armor all battered and dented, and covered with rust. 

"I had hitherto held my tongue, for your excellency well 
knows it is not for a soldier to ask many questions when on 
duty, but I could keep silent no longer. 

*'' Prithee, comrade,' said I, 'what is the meaning of all 
this ? ' 

" ' This,' said the trooper, ' is a great and fearful mystery. 
Know, Christian, that you see before you the court and 
army of Boabdil, the last king of Granada. ' 

" ' What is this you tell me ? ' cried I. ' Boabdil and his 
court were exiled from the land hundreds of years agone, and 
all died in Africa. ' 

"'So it is recorded in your lying chronicles,' replied the 
Moor; 'but know that Boabdil and the warriors who made 
the last struggle for Grranada were all shut up in the mountain 
by powerful enchantment. As for the king and army that 
marched forth from Granada at the time of the surrender, 
they were a mere phantom train of spirits and demons, per- 
mitted to assume those shapes to deceive the Christian sover- 
eigns. And, furthermore, let me tell you, friend, that all Spain 
is a country under the power of enchantment. There is not 
a mountain cave, not a lonely watch-tower in the plains, nor 
ruined castle on the hills, but has some spellbound warriors 
sleeping from age to age within its vaults, until the sins are 
expiated for which Allah permitted the dominion to pass for a 
time out of the hands of the faithful. Once every year, on the 
eve of St. John, they are released from enchantment, from sun- 
set to sunrise, and permitted to repair here to pay homage to 
their sovereign ; and the crowds which you beheld swarming 



GOVERNOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 169 

into the cavern are Moslem warriors from their haunts in all 
parts of Spain. For my part, you saw the ruined tower of the 
bridge in Old Castile, where I have now wintered and sum- 
mered for many hundred years, and where I must be back 
again by daybreak. As to the battalions of horse and foot 
which you beheld drawn up in array in the neighboring cav- 
erns, they are the spellbound warriors of Granada. It is 
written in the book of fate, that, when the enchantment is 
broken, Boabdil will descend from the mountain, at the head 
of this army, resume his throne in the Alhambra, and his sway 
of Granada, and, gathering together the enchanted warriors, 
from all parts of Spain, will reconquer the Peninsula ^ and 
restore it to Moslem rule.' 

" ^ And when shall this happen ? ' said I. 

*' ^ Allah alone knows. We had hoped that the day of deliv- 
erance was at hand; but there reigns at present a vigilant 
governor in the Alhambra, a stanch old soldier, well known as 
Governor Manco. While such a warrior holds command of 
the very outpost, and stands ready to check the first irruption 
from the mountain, I fear Boabdil and his soldiery must be 
content to rest upon their arms.' " 

Here the governor raised himself somewhat perpendicularly, 
adjusted his sword, and twirled up his mustaches. 

" To make a long story short, and not to fatigue your excel- 
lency, the trooper, having given me this account, dismounted 
from his steed. 

"' Tarry here, ' said he, 'and guard my steed while I go 
and bow the knee to Boabdil.' So saying, he strode away 
among the throng that pressed forward to the throne. 

"'What's to be done?' thought I, when thus left to 
myself; 'shall I wait here until this infidel returns to whisk 
me off on his goblin steed, the Lord knows where; or shall I 
make the most of my time and beat a retreat from this hob- 
goblin community ? ' A soldier's mind is soon made up, as 

» Spain and Portugal. 



170 GOVEKNOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 

your excellency well knows. As to the horse, he belonged to 
an avowed enemy of the faith and the realm, and was a fair 
prize according to the rules of war. So hoisting myself from 
the crupper ^ into the saddle, I turned the reins, struck the 
Moorish stirrups into the sides of the steed, and put him to 
make the best of his way out of the passage by which he had 
entered. As we scoured by the halls where the Moslem horse- 
men sat in motionless battalions, I thought I heard the clang 
of armor and a hollow murmur of voices. I gave the steed 
another taste of the stirrups and doubled my speed. There 
was now a sound behind me like a rushing blast; I heard the 
clatter of a thousand hoofs; a countless throng overtook me. 
I was borne along in the press, and hurled forth from the 
mouth of the cavern, while thousands of shadowy forms were 
swept off in every direction by the four winds of heaven. 

" In the whirl and confusion of the scene I was thrown 
senseless to the earth. When I came to myself I was lying 
on the brow of a hill, with the Arabian steed standing beside 
me; for in falling, my arm had slipped within the bridle, 
which, I presume, prevented his whisking off to Old Castile. 

" Your excellency may easily judge of my surprise, on look- 
ing round, to behold hedges of aloes and Indian figs and other 
proofs of a southern climate, and to see a great city below me, 
with towers and palaces and a grand cathedral. 

"I descended the hill cautiously, leading my steed, for I 
was afraid to mount him again, lest he should play me some 
slippery trick. As I descended, I met with your patrol, who 
let me into the secret that it was Granada that lay before me, 
and that I was actually under the walls of the Alhambra, the 
fortress of the redoubted Governor Manco, the terror of all 
enchanted Moslems. When I heard this, I determined at 
once to seek your excellency, to inform you of all that I had 
seen, and to warn you of the perils that surround and under- 
mine you, that you may take measures in time to guard your 

» strap of leather passing under a horse's tail, to prevent the saddle from slipping. 



GOVERNOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 171 

fortress, and the kingdom itself, from this intestine army that 
lurks in the very bowels of the land. ' ' 

*' And prithee, friend, you who are a veteran campaigner, 
and have seen so much service," said the governor, "how 
would you advise me to proceed, in order to prevent this 
evil?" 

"It is not for a humble private of the ranks," said the 
soldier, modestly, "to pretend to instruct a commander of 
your excellency's sagacity, but it appears to me that your 
excellency might cause all the caves and entrances into the 
mountains to be walled up with solid mason work, so that 
Boabdil and his army might be completely corked up in their 
subterranean habitation. If the good father, too, ' ' added the 
soldier, reverently bowing to the friar, and devoutly crossing 
himself, "would consecrate the barricadoes with his blessing, 
and put up a few crosses, and relics and images of saints, I 
think they might withstand all the power of infidel enchant- 
ments. " 

" They doubtless would be of great avail," said the friar. 

The governor now placed his arm akimbo, with his hand 
resting on the hilt of his Toledo, fixed his eye upon the sol- 
dier, and gently wagging his head from one side to the other, 
"So, friend," said he, "then you really suppose I am to be 
gulled with this cock-and-bull story about enchanted moun- 
tains and enchanted Moors ? Hark ye, culprit ! Not another 
word. An old soldier you may be, but you'll find you have 
an older soldier to deal with, and one not easily outgeneralled. 
IIo! guards there! Put this fellow in irons. " 

The demure handmaid would have put in a word in favor 
of the prisoner, but the governor silenced her with a look. 

As they were pinioning the soldier, one of the guards felt 
something of bulk in his pocket, and drawing it forth, found 
a long leathern purse that appeared to be well filled. Holding 
it by one corner, he turned oat the contents upon the table 
before the governor, and never did freebooter's bag make more 



172 GOVERNOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 

gorgeous delivery. Out tumbled rings and jewels, and rosaries 
of pearls, and sparkling diamond crosses, and a profusion of 
ancient golden coin, some of which fell jingling to the floor, 
and rolled away to the uttermost parts of the chamber. 

For a time the functions of justice were suspended ; there 
was a universal scramble after the glittering fugitives. The 
governor alone, who was imbued with true Spanish pride, 
maintained his stately decorum,^ though his eye betrayed a 
little anxiety until the last coin and jewel was restored to the 
sack. 

The friar was not so calm ; his whole face glowed like a fur- 
nace, and his eyes twinkled and flashed at sight of the rosaries 
and crosses. 

" Sacrilegious ^ wretch that thou art! " exclaimed he; ** what 
church or sanctuary hast thou been plundering of these sacred 
relics?" 

" Neither one nor the other, holy father. If they be sacri- 
legious spoils, they must have been taken, in times long past, 
by the infidel trooper I have mentioned. I was just going to 
tell his excellency, when he interrupted me, that on taking pos- 
session of the trooper's horse, I unhooked a leathern sack which 
hung at the saddle-bow, and which I presume contained the 
plunder of his campaignings in days of old, when the Moors 
overran the country." 

" Mighty well! At present you will make up your mind to 
take uj) your quarters in a chamber of the Vermilion Towers, 
which, though not under a magic spell, will hold you as safe 
as any cave of your enchanted Moors." 

" Your excellency will do as you think proper," said the pris- 
oner, coolly. " I shall be thankful to your excellency for any 
accommodation in the fortress. A soldier who has been in 
the wars, as your excellency well knows, is not particular 
about his lodgings. Provided I have a snug dungeon, and 
regular rations, I shall manage to make myself comfortable. I 

1 propriety of manner or conduct. 2 pj-of ane ; impious. 



GOVERNOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 178 

would only entreat that while your excellency is so careful 
about me, you would have an eye to your fortress, and think 
on the hint I dropped about stopping up the entrances to the 
mountain." 

Here ended the scene. The prisoner was conducted to a 
strong dungeon in the Vermilion Towers, the Arabian steed 
was led to his excellency's stable, and the trooper's sack was 
deposited in his excellency's strong box. To the latter, it is 
true, the friar made some demur, questioning whether the 
sacred relics, which were evidently sacrilegious spoils, should 
not be placed in custody of the Church; but as the governor 
was peremptory on the subject, and was absolute lord in the 
Alhambra, the friar discreetly dropped the discussion, but 
determined to convey intelligence of the fact to the church 
dignitaries in Granada. 

To explain these prompt and rigid measures on the part of 
old Governor Manco, it is proper to observe, that about this 
time the Alpuxaras Mountains in the neighborhood of Gra- 
nada were terribly infested by a gang of robbers under the 
command of a daring chief named Manuel Borasco, who were 
accustomed to prowl about the country, and even to enter the 
city in various disguises, to gain intelligence of the depart- 
ure of convoys of merchandise, or travellers with well-lined 
purses, whom they took care to waylay in distant and solitary 
passes of the road. These repeated and daring outrages had 
awakened the attention of government, and the commanders 
of the various posts had received instructions to be on the alert, 
and to take up all suspicious stragglers. Governor Manco 
was particularly zealous in consequence of the various stigmas 
that had been cast upon his fortress, and he now doubted not 
he had entrapped some formidable desperado of this gang. 

In the mean time the story took wind, and became the talk, 
not merely of the fortress, but of the whole city of Granada. 
It was said that the noted robber Manuel Borasco, the terror 
of the Alpuxaras, had fallen into the clutches of old Gov- 



174 GOVEENOR MANCO AND THE SOLDIER. 

ernor Manco, and been cooped up by him in a dungeon of the 
Vermilion Towers ; and every one who had been robbed by him 
flocked to recognize the marauder. The Vermilion Towers, as 
is well known, stand apart from the Alhambra, on a sister 
hill, separated from the main fortress by the ravine down 
which passes the main avenue. There were no outer walls, 
but a sentinel patrolled before the tower. The window of the 
chamber in which the soldier was confined was strongly grated, 
and looked upon a small esplanade. Here the good folks of 
Granada repaired to gaze at him, as they would at a laughing 
hyena, grinning through the cage of a menagerie. Nobody, 
however, recognized him for Manuel Borasco, for that terrible 
robber was noted for a ferocious physiognomy,' and had by 
no means the good-humored squint of the prisoner. Visitors 
came not merely from the city, but from all parts of the 
country; but nobody knew him, and there began to be doubts 
in the minds of the common peojole whether there might not 
be some truth in his story. That Boabdil and his army were 
shut up in the mountain, was an old tradition which many 
of the ancient inhabitants had heard from their fathers. 
Numbers went up to the mountain of the sun in search of the 
cave mentioned by the soldier; and saw and peeped into the 
deep dark pit, descending, no one knows how far, into the 
mountain, and which remains there to this day, the fabled 
entrance to the subterranean abode of Boabdil. 

By degrees the soldier became popular with the common 
people. A freebooter of the mountains is by no means the 
opprobrious character in Spain that a robber is in any other 
country; on the contrary, he is a kind of chivalrous personage 
in the eyes of the lower classes. There is always a disposi- 
tion, also, to cavil ^ at the conduct of those in command, and 
many began to murmur at the high-handed measures of old 
Governor Manco, and to look upon the prisoner in the light 
of a martyr. 

1 face, or countenance. 2 offer frivolous objections. 



GOVERNOR MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 175 

The soldier, moreover, was a merry, waggish fellow, that had 
a joke for every one who came near his window, and a soft 
speech for every female. He had procured an old guitar also, 
and would sit by his window and sing ballads and love-ditties, 
to the delight of the women of the neighborhood, who would 
assemble on the esplanade in the evening, and dance boleros to 
his music. Having trimmed off his rough beard, his sun- 
burnt face found favor in the eyes of the fair, and the demure 
handmaid of the governor declared that his squint was per- 
fectly irresistible. This kind-hearted damsel had from the first 
evinced a deep sympathy in his fortunes, and having in vain 
tried to mollify the governor, had set to work privately to 
mitigate the rigor of his dispensations. Every day she brought 
the prisoner some crumbs of comfort which had fallen from the 
governor's table, or been abstracted from his larder, together 
with, now and then, a consoling bottle of choice, rich Malaga. 

While this petty treason was going on in the very centre of 
the old governor's citadel, a storm of open war was brewing 
up among his external foes. The circumstance of a bag of 
gold and jewels having been found upon the person of the 
supposed robber, had been reported, with many exaggera- 
tions, in Granada. A question of territorial jurisdiction was 
immediately started by the governor's inveterate rival, the 
captain-general. He insisted that the prisoner had been cap- 
tured without the precincts of the Alhambra, and within the 
rules of his authority. He demanded his body, therefore, and 
the spolia opima ^ taken with him. Due information having 
been carried, likewise, by the friar to the grand inquisitor, of 
the crosses and rosaries and other relics contained in the bag, 
he claimed the culprit as having been guilty of sacrilege, and 
insisted that his plunder was due to the Church, and his body 
to the next auto da fe.^ The feuds ran high; the governor 

1 rich spoils. who had been tried before the courts of the 

3 (aw'to dah-fa'), the public declaration Spanish Inquisition, 
of the judgment passed on accused persons 



176 GOVERNOR MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 

was furious, and swore, rather tlian surrender his captive, he 
would hang him up within the Alhambra, as a spy caught 
within the purlieus * of the fortress. 

The captain-general threatened to send a body of soldiers 
to transfer the prisoner from the Vermilion Towers to the city. 
The grand inquisitor was equally bent upon despatching a 
number of the familiars of the Holy Office. Word was 
brought, late at night, to the governor, of these machinations. 
" Let them come," said he; " they'll find me beforehand with 
them. He must rise bright and early who would take in an old 
soldier." He accordingly issued orders to have the prisoner 
removed, at daybreak, to the donjon keep within the walls of 
the Alhambra. *^And d'ye hear, child?" said he to his 
demure handmaid, ''tap at my door, and wake me before 
cock-crowing, that I may see to the matter myself. ' ' 

The day dawned, the cock crowed, but nobody tapped at 
the door of the governor. The sun rose high above the 
mountain tops, and glittered in at his casement, ere the gov- 
ernor was awakened from his morning dreams by his veteran 
corporal, who stood before "him with terror stamped upon his 
iron visage. 

" He's off ! he's gone ! " cried the corporal, gasping for breath. 

" Who's off— who's gone ? " 

"The soldier — the robber — the devil, for aught I know. 
His dungeon is empty, but the door locked. No one knows 
how he has escaped out of it." 

" Who saw him last ? " 

" Your handmaid; she brought him his supper." 

" Let her be called instantly, " 

Here was new matter of confusion. The chamber of the 
demure damsel was likewise empty, her bed had not been slept 
in: she had doubtless gone off with the culprit, as she had 
appeared, for some days past, to have frequent conversations 
with him. 

1 the outer portion ; environs. 



GOVERNOR MANGO AND THE SOLDIER. 177 

This was wounding the old governor in a tender part, but 
he had scarce time to wince at it, when new misfortunes broke 
upon his view. On going into his cabinet he found his strong 
box open, the leather purse of the trooper abstracted, and with 
it, a couple of corpulent^ bags of doubloons.' 

But how, and which way had the fugitives escaped ? An 
old peasant who lived in a cottage by the roadside, leading up 
into the Sierra, declared that he had heard the tramp of a power- 
ful steed just before daybreak, passing up into the mountains. 
He had looked out at his casement, and could just distinguish 
a horseman, with a female seated before him. 

" Search the stables! " cried Governor Manco. The stables 
were searched ; all the horses were in their stalls, excepting the 
Arabian steed. In his place was a stout cudgel tied to the 
manger, and on it a label bearing these words, ^'A gift to 
Governor Manco, from an Old Soldier." 

1 large ; full. ^ Former Spanish gold coin. 



13 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCEEET STATUES. 

There lived once, in a waste apartment of the Alhambra, a 
merry little fellow named Lope Sanchez, who worked in the 
gardens, and was as brisk and blithe as a grasshopper, singing 
all day long. He was the life and sonl of the fortress; when 
his work was over, he would sit on one of the stone benches of 
the esplanade, strum his guitar and sing long ditties for the 
amusement of the old soldiers of the fortress, or would strike 
up a merrier tune, and set the girls dancing. 

Like most little men. Lope Sanchez had a strapping buxom 
dame for a wife, who could almost have put him in her pocket; 
but he lacked the usual poor man's lot — instead of ten chil- 
dren, he had but one. This was a little black-eyed girl about 
twelve years of age, named Sanchica, who w^as as merry as 
himself, and the delight of his heart. She played about him 
as he worked in the gardens, danced to his guitar as he sat in 
the shade, and ran as wild as a young fawn about the groves 
and alleys and ruined halls of the Alhambra. 

It was now the eve of the blessed St. John, and the holiday- 
loving gossips of the Alhambra, men, women, and children, 
went up at night to the mountain of the sun, which rises 
above the Generalife, to keep their midsummer vigil on its 
level summit. It was a bright moonlight night, and all the 
mountains were gray and silvery, and the city, with its domes 
and spires, lay in shadows below, and the Vega was like a 
fairy land, with haunted streams gleaming among its dusky 
groves. On the highest part of the mountain they lit up a 
bonfire, according to an old custom of the country, handed 
down from the Moors. The inhabitants of the surrounding 
country were keeping a similar vigil, and bonfires, here and 
there in the Vega, and along the folds of the mountains, 
blazed up palely in the moonlight. 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 179 

The evening was gayly passed in dancing to the guitar of 
Lope Sanchez, who was never so joyous as when on a holiday 
revel of the kind. While the dance was going on, the little 
Sanchica, with some of her playmates, sported among the ruins 
of an old Moorish fort that crowns the mountain, when, in 
gathering pebbles in the fosse, she found a small hand curi- 
ously carved of jet, the fingers closed, and the thumb firmly 
clasped upon them. Overjoyed with her good fortune, she 
ran to her mother with her prize. It immediately became a 
sul)ject of sage speculation, ^ and was eyed by some with super- 
stitious distrust. " Throw it away," said one; ^' it's Moorish; 
depend upon it, there's mischief and witchcraft in it." " py 
no means," said another; "you may sell it for something to 
the jewellers of the Zacatin." In the midst of this discussion 
an old tawny soldier drew near, who had served in Africa, and 
was as swarthy as a Moor. He examined the hand with a 
knowing look. "I have seen things of this kind," said he, 
"' among the Moors of Barbary. It is a great virtue to guard 
against the evil eye, and all kinds of spells and enchantments. 
I give you joy, friend Lope; this bodes good luck to your child. " 

Upon hearing this, the wife of Lope Sanchez tied the little 
hand of jet to a ribbon, and hung it round the neck of her 
daughter. 

The sight of this talisman called up all the favorite super- 
stitions about the Moors. The dance was neglected, and they 
sat in groups on the ground, telling old legendary tales 
handed down from their ancestors. Some of their stories 
turned upon the wonders of the very mountain upon which 
they were seated, which is a famous hobgoblin region. One 
ancient crone gave a long account of the subterranean palace 
in the bowels of that mountain where Boabdil and all his Moslem 
court are said to remain enchanted. " Among yonder ruins," 
said she, pointing to some crumbling walls and mounds of earth 
on a distant part of the mountain, " there is a deep black pit 

1 conjecture ; mere theory. 



180 LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 

that goes down, down, into the very heart of the mountain. 
For all the money in Granada I would not look down into it. 
Once upon a time a poor man of the Alhambra, who tended 
goats upon this mountain, scrambled down into that pit after 
a kid that had fallen in. He came out again all wild and 
staring, and told such things of what he had seen that every 
one thought his brain was turned. He raved for a day or two 
about the hobgoblin Moors that had pursued him in the cav- 
ern, and could hardly be persuaded to drive his goats up again 
to the mountain. He did so at last, but, poor man, he never 
came down again. The neighbors found his goats browsing 
about the Moorish ruins, and his hat and mantle lying near 
the mouth of the pit, but he was never more heard of." 

The little Sanchica listened with breathless attention to this 
story. She was of a curious nature, and felt immediately a 
great hankering to peep into this dangerous pit. Stealing 
away from her companions, she sought the distant ruins, and 
after groping for some time among them, came to a small 
hollow, or basin, near the brow of the mountain, where it 
swept steeply down into the valley of the Darro. In the 
centre of this basin yawned the mouth of the pit. Sanchica 
ventured to the verge, and peeped in. All was as black as 
pitch, and gave an idea of immeasurable depth. Her blood 
ran cold; she drew back, then peeped in again, then would 
have run away, then took another peep — the very horror of 
the thing was delightful to her. At length she rolled a large 
stone, and pushed it over the brink. For some time it fell in 
silence; then struck some rocky projection with a violent 
crash; then rebounded from side to side, rumbling and tum- 
bling, with a noise like thunder; then made a final splash into 
water, far, far below ; and all was again silent. 

The silence, however, did not long continue. It seemed as 
if something had been awakened within this dreary abyss. ^ 
A murmuring sound gradually rose out of the pit, like the 

1 a very deep place (liter£:lly, bottomless). 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 181 

hum and buzz of a beehive. It grew louder and louder; there 
was the confusion of voices as of a distant multitude, together 
with the faint din of arms, clash of cymbals, and clangor of 
trumpets, as if some army were marshalling for battle in the 
very bowels of the mountain. 

The child drew off with silent awe, and hastened back to 
the place where she had left her parents and their compan- 
ions. All were gone. The bonfire was expiring, and its last 
wreath of smoke curling up in the moonshine. The distant 
fires that had blazed along the mountains and in the Vega 
were all extinguished, and every thing seemed to have sunk to 
repose. Sanchica called her parents and some of her com- 
panions by name, but received no reply. She ran down the 
side of the mountain, and by the gardens of the Generalife, 
until she arrived in the alley of trees leading to the Alham- 
bra, when she seated herself on a bench of a woody recess to 
recover breath. The bell from the watch-tower of the Alham- 
bra tolled midnight. There was a deep tranquillity, as if all 
nature slept, excepting the low tinkling sound of an unseen 
stream that ran under the covert of the bushes. The breath- 
ing sweetness of the atmosphere was lulling her to sleep, 
when her eye was caught by something glittering at a distance, 
and to her surprise she beheld a long cavalcade of Moorish 
warriors pouring down the mountain side and along the leafy 
avenues. Some were armed with lances and shields; others 
with cimeters and battle-axes, and with polished cuirasses that 
flashed in the moonbeams. Their horses pranced proudly and 
champed upon their bits, but their tramp caused no more sound 
than if they had been shod with felt, and the riders were all 
as pale as death. Among them rode a beautiful lady, with a 
crowned head and long golden locks entwined with pearls. 
The housings of her palfrey were of crimson velvet embroid- 
ered with gold, and swept the earth ; but she rode all discon- 
solate,' with eyes ever fixed upon the ground. 

^ sad. 



182 LEGEND OF TWO DISCEEET STATUES. 

Then succeeded a train of courtiers magnificently arrayed in 
robes and turbans of divers colors, and amidst them, on a 
cream-colored charger, rode King Boabdil el Ohico, in a royal 
mantle covered with jewels, and a crown sparkling with dia- 
monds. The little Sanchica knew him by his yellow beard, 
and his resemblance to his portrait, which she had often seen 
in the picture gallery of the Generalife. She gazed in wonder 
and admiration at this royal pageant, as it passed glistening 
among the trees; bnt though she knew these monarchs and 
courtiers and warriors, so pale and silent, were out of the 
common course of nature, and things of magic and enchant- 
ment, yet she looked on with a bold heart, such courage did 
she derive from the mystic talisman of the hand which was 
suspended about her neck. 

The cavalcade having passed by, she rose and followed. It 
continued- on to the great Gate of Justice, which stood wide 
open ; the old invalid sentinels on duty lay on the stone benches 
of the barbican, buried in profound and apparently charmed 
sleep, and the phantom pageant swept noiselessly by them, 
with flaunting banner and triumphant state. Sanchica would 
have followed, but to her surprise she beheld an opening in 
the earth, within the barbican, leading down beneath the 
foundations of the tower. She entered for a little distance, 
and was encouraged to proceed, by finding steps rudely hewn in 
the rock, and a vaulted passage here and there lit up by a 
silver lamp, which, w^hile it gave light, diffused likewise a 
grateful fragrance. Venturing on, she came at last to a great 
hall, wrought out of the heart of the mountain, magnificently 
furnished in the Moorish style, and lighted up by silver and 
crystal lamps. Here, on an ottoman, sat an old man in Moor- 
ish dress, Avith a long white beard, nodding and dozing, with 
a staff in his hand, which seemed ever to be slipping from his 
grasp; Avhile at a little distance sat a beautiful lady, in ancient 
Spanish dress, with a coronet all sparkling with diamonds, 
and her hair entwined with pearls, who was softly playing on 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 183 

a silver lyre. The little Sanchica now recollected a story slie 
had heard among the old people of the Alhambra, concerning 
a Gothic princess confined in the centre of the monntain by 
an old Arabian magician, whom she kept bound up in magic 
sleep by the power of music. 

The lady paused with surprise at seeing a mortal in that 
enchanted hall. ^' Is it the eve of the blessed St. John?" 
said she. 

"It is," replied Sanchica. 

" Then for one night the magic charm is suspended. Come 
hither, child, and fear not. I am a Christian like thyself, 
though bound here by enchantment. Touch my fetters with 
the talisman that hangs about thy neck, and for this night I 
shall be free." * 

So saying, she opened her robes, and displayed a broad 
golden band round her waist, and a golden chain that fas- 
tened her to the ground. The child hesitated not to apply 
the little hand of jet to the golden band, and immediately the 
chain fell to the earth. At the sound the old man woke, 
and began to rub his eyes; but the lady ran her fingers over 
the chords of the lyre, and again he fell into a slumber, and 
began to nod, and his staff to falter in his hand. ''.Now," 
said the lady, "touch his staff with the talismanic hand of 
jet." The child did so, and it fell from his grasp, and he 
sank in a deep sleep on the ottoman. The lady gently laid 
the silver lyre on the ottoman, leaning it against the head of 
the sleeping magician; then touching the chords until they 
vibrated in his ear — " potent spirit of harmony," said she, 
"continue thus to hold his senses in thraldom till the return 
of day. Now follow me, my child," continued she, "and 
thou shalt behold the Alhambra as it was in the days of its 
glory, for thou hast a magic talisman th'at reveals all enchant- 
ments." Sanchica followed the lady in silence. They passed 
up through the entrance of the cavern into the barbican of the 
Gate of Justice, and thence to the esplanade within the fortress. 



184 LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 

This was all filled with Moorish soldiery, horse and foot, 
marshalled in squadrons, with banners displayed. There were 
royal guards also at the portal, and rows of African blacks 
with drawn cimeters. No one spoke a word, and Sanchica 
passed on fearlessly after her conductor. Her astonishment 
increased on entering the royal palace, in which she had been 
reared. The broad moonshine lit up all the halls and courts 
and gardens almost as brightly as if it were day, but revealed 
a far different scene from that to which she was accustomed. 
The walls of the apartments were no longer stained and rent 
by time. Instead of cobwebs, they were now hung with rich 
silks of Damascus,' and the gildings and arabesque paintings 
were restored to their original brilliancy and freshness. The 
halls, no longer naked and unfurnished, were set out with 
divans and ottomans of the rarest stuffs, embroidered with 
pearls and studded with precious gems, and all the fountains 
in the courts and gardens were playing. 

The kitchens were again in full operation ; cooks were busy 
preparing shadowy dishes, and roasting and boiling the phan- 
toms of pullets and partridges; servants were hurrying to 
and fro with silver dishes heaped up with dainties, and 
arranging a delicious banquet. The Court of Lions was 
thronged with guards and courtiers and alfaquis, as in the 
old times of the Moors; and at the upper end, in the Saloon 
of Judgment, sat Boabdil on his throne, surrounded by his 
court, and swaying a shadowy sceptre for the night. Not- 
withstanding all this throng and seeming bustle, not a voice nor 
a footstep was to be heard; nothing interrupted the midnight 
silence but the splashing of the fountains. The little San- 
chica followed her conductress in mute amazement about the 
palace, until they came to a portal opening to the vaulted 
passages beneath the great Tower of Comares. On each side 
of the portal sat the figure of a nymph, wrought out of ala- 
baster. Their heads were turned aside, and their regards fixed 

1 celebrated city of Asiatic Turkey. 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 185 

upon the same spot within the vault. The enchanted lady 
paused, and beckoned the child to her. '' Here," said she, " is 
a great secret, which I will reveal to thee in reward for thy 
faith and courage. These discreet statues watch over a treas- 
ure hidden in old times by a Moorish king. Tell thy father to 
search the spot on which their eyes are fixed, and he will find 
what will make him richer than any man in Granada. Thy 
innocent hands, alone, however, gifted as thou art also with 
the talisman, can remove the treasure. Bid thy father use 
it discreetly, and devote a part of it to the performance of 
daily masses for my deliverance from this unholy enchant- 
ment." 

When the lady had spoken these words, she led the child 
onward to the little Garden of Lindaraxa, which is hard by 
the vault of the statues. The moon trembled upon the 
waters of the solitary fountain in the centre of the garden, 
and shed a tender light upon the orange and citron trees. 
The beautiful lady plucked a branch of myrtle and wreathed 
it round the head of the child. " Let this be a memento," ' 
said she, ^'of what I have revealed to thee, and a testimonial 
of its truth. My hour is come; I must return to the 
enchanted hall; follow me not, lest evil befall thee. Farewell. 
Eemember what I have said, and have masses performed for 
my deliverance." So saying, the lady entered a dark passage 
leading beneath the Tower of Comares, and was no longer seen. 

The faint croAving of a cock was now heard from the cot- 
tages below the Alhambra, in the valley of the Darro, and a 
pale streak of light began to appear above the eastern moun- 
tains. A slight wind arose; there was the sound like the rus- 
tling of dry leaves through the courts and corridors, and door 
after door shut to with a jarring sound. 

Sanchica returned to the scenes she had so lately beheld 
thronged with the shadowy multitude, but Boabdil and his 
phantom court were gone. The moon shone into empty halls 

' reminder. 



186 LEGEND OF TWO DISCKEET STATUES. 

and galleries, stripped of their transient splendor, stained 
and dilapidated by time, and hung with cobwebs. The bat 
flitted about in the uncertain light, and the frog croaked from 
the fish-pond. 

Sanchica now made the best of her way to a remote stair- 
case that led up to the humble apartment occupied by her 
family. The door, as usual, Avas open, for Lope Sanchez was 
too poor to need bolt or bar; she crept quietly to her pallet, 
and, putting the myrtle wreath beneath her pillow, soon fell 
asleep. 

In the morning she related all that had befallen her to her 
father. Lope Sanchez, however, treated the whole as a mere 
dream, and laughed at the child for her credulity. He went 
forth to his customary labors in the garden, but had not been 
there long when his little daughter came running to him 
almost breathless. "Father! father!" cried she, "behold 
the myrtle wreath which the Moorish lady bound round my 
head." 

Lope Sanchez gazed with astonishment, for the stalk of the 
myrtle was of pure gold, and every leaf was a sparkling emer- 
ald! Being not much accustomed to precious stones, he was 
ignorant of the real value of the wreath, but he saw enough to 
convince him that it was something more substantial than the 
stulf of which dreams are generally made, and that at any rate 
the child had dreamt to some purpose. His first care was to 
enjoin the most absolute secrecy upon his daughter; in this 
respect, however, he was secure, for she had discretion far 
beyond her years or sex. He then repaired to the vault, where 
stood the statues of the two alabaster nymphs. He remarked 
that their heads were turned from the portal, and that the 
regards of each were fixed upon the same point in the interior 
of the building. Lope Sanchez could not but admire this most 
discreet contrivance for guarding a secret. He drew a line 
from the eyes of the statues to the point of regard, made a 
private mark on the wall, and then retired. 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 187 

All day, however, the mind of Lope Sanchez was distracted 
with a thousand cares. He conld not help hovering within 
distant view of the two statues, and became nervous from the 
dread that the golden secret might be discovered. Every 
footstep that approached the place made him tremble. He 
would have given any thing could he but have turned the 
heads of the statues, forgetting that they looked precisely in 
the same direction for some hundreds of years, without any 
person being the wiser. 

" A plague upon them !" he would say to himself. " They'll 
betray all ; did ever mortal hear of such a mode of guarding 
a secret ? " Then, on hearing any one advance, he would steal 
off, as though his very lurking near the place would awaken 
suspicion. Then he would return cautiousl}^, and peep from 
a distance to see if every thing was secure; but the sight of the 
statues would again call forth his indignation. ^* Ay, there 
they stand," would he say, "always looking, and looking, 
and looking, just where they should not. Confound them! 
They are just like all their sex. If they have not tongues to 
tattle with, they'll be sure to do it with their eyes." 

At length, to his relief, the long anxious day drew to a 
close. The sound of footsteps was no longer heard in the 
echoing halls of the Alhambra. The last stranger passed the 
threshold, the great portal was barred and bolted, and the bat 
and the frog and the hooting owl gradually resumed their 
nightly vocations in the deserted palace. 

Lope Sanchez waited, however, until the night was far 
advanced before he ventured with his little daughter to the 
hall of the two nymphs. He found them looking as know- 
ingly and mysteriously as ever at the secret place of deposit. 
" By your leaves, gentle ladies," thought Lope Sanchez, as he 
passed between them, " I will relieve you from this charge that 
must have set so heavy in your minds for the last two or three 
centuries." lie accordingly went to work at the part of the 
wall which he had marked, and in a little while laid open a con- 



188 LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 

cealed recess, in which stood two great jars of porcelain. He 
attempted to draw them forth, but they were immovable, until 
touched by the innocent hand of his little daughter. With 
her aid he dislodged them from their niche, and found, to his 
great joy, that they were filled with pieces of Moorish gold, 
mingled with jewels and precious stones. Before daylight he 
managed to convey them to his chamber, and left the two 
guardian statues with their eyes still fixed on the vacant wall. 

Lope Sanchez had thus on a sudden become a rich man; but 
riches, as usual, brought a world of cares to which he had 
hitherto been a stranger. How was he to convey away his 
wealth with safety ? How was he even to enter upon the en- 
joyment of it without awakening suspicion ? Now, too, for the 
first time in his life the dread of robbers entered into his mind. 
He looked with terror at the insecurity of his habitation, and 
went to work to barricade the doors and windows ; yet after all 
his precautions he could not sleep soundly. His usual gayety 
was at an end; he had no longer a joke or a song for his 
neighbors; and, in short, became the most miserable animal in 
the Alhambra. His old comrades remarked this alteration, 
pitied him heartily, and began to desert him, thinking he 
must be falling into want, and in danger of looking to them 
for assistance. Little did they suspect that his only calamity 
was riches. 

The wife of Lope Sanchez shared his anxiety, but then she 
had ghostly comfort. We ought, before this, to have mentioned 
that Lope, being rather a light, inconsiderate little man, his 
wife was accustomed, in all grave matters, to seek the counsel 
and ministry of her confessor. Fray Simon, a sturdy, broad- 
shouldered, blue-bearded, bullet-headed friar of the neighbor- 
mg convent of San Francisco, who was, in fact, the spiritual 
comforter of half the good wives of the neighborhood. He 
was, moreover, in great esteem among divers sisterhoods of 
nuns, who requited him for his ghostly services by frequent 
presents of those little dainties and knick-knacks manufac- 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 189 

tured in convents, such as delicate confections, sweet biscuits, 
and bottles of spiced cordials, found to be marvellous restora- 
tives after fasts and vigils. 

Fray Simon thrived in the exercise of his functions. His 
oil}^ skin glistened in the sunshine as he toiled up the hill of 
the Alhambra on a sultry day. Yet notwithstanding his sleek 
condition, the knotted rope round his waist showed the auster- 
ity of his self-discipline; the multitude doffed their caps to 
him as a mirror of piety, and even the dogs scented the odor 
of sanctity that exhaled from his garments, and howled from 
their kennels as he passed. 

Such was Fray Simon, the spiritual counsellor of the 
comely wife of Lope Sanchez; and as the father confessor is 
the domestic confidant of women in humble life in Spain, he 
was soon acquainted, in great secrecy, with the story of the 
hidden treasure. 

The friar opened his eyes and mouth, and crossed himself a 
dozen times at the news. After a moment's pause, ^^ Daugh- 
ter of my soul! " said he, " know that thy husband has com- 
mitted a double sin — a sin against both state and church! 
The treasure he has thus seized upon for himself, being found 
in the royal domains, belongs, of course, to the crown; but 
being infidel wealth, rescued as it were from the very fangs of 
Satan, should be devoted to the Church. Still, however, the 
matter may be accommodated. Bring hither thy myrtle 
wreath." 

When the good father beheld it, his eyes twinkled more 
than ever with admiration of the size and beauty of the emer- 
alds. ^'This," said he, ''being the first fruits of this dis- 
covery, should be dedicated to pious purposes. I will hang it 
up as a votive offering before the image of San Francisco in 
our chapel, and will earnestly pray to him, this very night, 
that your husband be permitted to remain in quiet possession 
of your wealth." 

The good dame was delighted to make her peace with 



190 LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 

heaven at so cheap a rate, and the friar putting the wreath 
under his mantle, departed with saintly steps toward his con- 
vent. 

When Lope Sanchez came home, his wife told him what 
had passed. He was excessively provoked, for he lacked his 
wife's devotion, and had for some time groaned in secret at 
the domestic visitations of the friar. ''Woman," said he, 
" what hast thou done ? Thou hast put every thing at hazard 
hy thy tattling." 

'^What!" cried the good woman, ''would you forhid my 
disburdening my conscience to my confessor? " 

" No, wife ! Confess as many of your own sins as you please ; 
but as to this money-digging, it is a sin of my own, and my 
conscience is very easy under the weight of it." 

There was no use, however, in complaining; the secret was. 
told, and, like water spilled on tlie sand, was not again to be 
gathered. Their only chance was, that the friar would be 
discreet. 

The next day, while Lope Sanchez was abroad, there was a 
humble knocking at the door, and Fray Simon entered with 
meek and demure countenance. 

"Daughter," said he, "I have earnestly prayed to San 
Francisco, and he has heard my prayer. In the dead of the 
night the saint appeared to me in a dream, but with a frown- 
ing aspect. 'Why,' said he, 'dost thou pray to me to dis- 
pense with this treasure of the Gentiles, when thou seest the 
poverty of my chapel ? Go to the house of Lope Sanchez, 
crave in my name a portion of the Moorish gold, to furnish 
two candlesticks for the main altar, and let him possess the 
residue ^ in peace.' " 

When the good woman heard of this vision, she crossed 
herself with awe, and going to the secret place where Lope 
had hid the treasure, she filled a great leathern purse with 
pieces of Moorish gold, and gave it to the friar. The pious 

1 remainder. 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 191 

monk bestowed upon her, in return, benedictions enough, if 
paid by heaven, to enrich her race to the latest posterity; then 
slipping the purse into the sleeve of his habit, he folded his 
hands upon his breast, and departed with an air of humble 
thankfulness. 

When Lope Sanchez heard of this second donation to the 
Church, he had well nigh lost his senses. "Unfortunate 
man ! " cried he. ''' What will become of me ? I shall be robbed 
by piecemeal; I shall be ruined and brought to beggary! " 

It was with the utmost difficulty that his wife could pacify 
him, by reminding him of the countless wealth that yet 
remained, and how considerate it was for San Francisco to 
rest contented with so small a portion. 

Unluckily, Eray Simon had a number of poor relations to 
be provided for, not to mention some half-dozen sturdy bullet- 
headed orphan children and destitute foundlings that he had 
taken under his care. He repeated his visits, therefore, from 
day to day, with solicitations ^ on behalf of Saint Dominick, 
Saint Andrew, Saint James, until poor Lope was driven to 
despair, and found that unless he got out of the reach of this 
holy friar, he should have to make peace-offerings to every 
saint in the calendar. He determined, therefore, to pack up 
his remaining Avealth, beat a secret retreat in the night, and 
make off to another part of the kingdom. 

Full of his project, he bought a stout mule for the purpose, 
and tethered Mt in a gloomy vault underneath the tower of 
the seven floors, the very place whence the Belludo, or goblin 
horse, is said to issue forth at midnight, and scour the streets 
of Granada, pursued by a pack of hell-hounds. Lope San- 
chez had little faith in the story, but availed himself of the 
dread occasioned by it, knowing that no one would be likely 
to pry into the subterranean stable of the phantom steed. He 
sent off his family in the course of the day, with orders to wait 
for him at a distant village of the Vega. As the night ad- 

1 earnest requests. ^ confined with a rope or chain for feeding within certain limits. 



192 LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 

vanced, lie conveyed his treasure to the vault under the tower, 
and having loaded his mule, he led it forth, and cautiously 
descended the dusky avenue. 

Honest Lope had taken his measures with the utmost 
secrecy, imparting them to no one but the faithful wife of his 
bosom. By some miraculous revelation, however, they became 
known to Fray Simon. The zealous friar beheld these infidel 
treasures on the point of slipping forever out of his grasp, 
and determined to have one more dash at them for the benefit 
of the Church and San Francisco. Accordingly, when the 
bells had rung for animas,^ and all the Alhambra was quiet, 
he stole out of his convent, and descending through the Gate 
of Justice, concealed himself among the thickets of roses and 
laurels that border the great avenue. Here he remained, 
counting the quarters of hours as they were sounded on the 
bell of the watch-tower, and listening to the dreary hootings 
of owls, and the distant barking of dogs from the gypsy 
caverns. 

At length he heard the tramp of hoofs, and, through the 
gloom of the overshadowing trees, imperfectly beheld a steed 
descending the avenue. The sturdy friar chuckled at the idea 
of the knowing turn he was about to serve honest Lope. 

Tucking up the skirts of his habit, and wriggling like a cat 
watching a mouse, he waited until his prey was directly 
before him, when, darting forth from his leafy covert, and 
putting one hand on the shoulder and the other on the 
crupper, he made a vault that would not have disgraced the 
most experienced master of equitation,^ and alighted well- 
forked astride the steed. "Ah ha!" said the sturdy friar, 
" we shall now see who best understands the game." He had 
scarce uttered the words when the mule began to kick and 
rear and plunge, and then set off full speed down the hill. 
The friar attempted to check him, but in vain. He bounded 
from rock to rock, and bush to bush; the friar's habit was 

1 (ah'ni-mahz), prayers for departed souls. ^ horsemanship. 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 193 

torn to ribbons, and fluttered in the wind ; his shaven poll ' 
received many a hard knock from the branches of the trees, 
and many a scratch from the brambles. To add to his terror 
and distress, he found a pack of seven hounds in full cry at 
his heels, and perceived^, too late, that he was actually mounted 
upon the terrible Belludo. 

Away then they w^ent, according to the ancient phrase, 
*^pull devil, pull friar," down the great avenue, across the 
Plaza Nueva, along the Zacatin, around the Yivarrambla — never 
did huntsman and hound make a more furious run, or more 
infernal uproar. In vain did the friar invoke every saint in 
the calendar, and the holy Virgin into the bargain; every time 
he mentioned a name of the kind it was like a fresh applica- 
tion of the spur, and made the Belludo bound as high as a 
house. Through the remainder of the night was the unlucky 
Fray Simon carried hither and thither, and whither he w^ould 
not, until every bone in his body ached, and he suffered a loss 
of leather too grievous to be mentioned. At length the crow- 
ing of a cock gave the signal of returning day. At the sound 
the goblin steed -svheeled about, and galloped back for his 
tower. Again he scoured the Vivarrambla, the Zacatin, the 
Plaza Xueva, and the avenue of fountains, the seven dogs yell- 
ing and barking and leaping up, and snapping at the heels 
of the terrified friar. The first streak of day had just 
appeared as they reached the tower; here the goblin steed 
kicked up his heels, sent the friar a somerset through the air, 
plunged into the dark vault, followed by the infernal pack, 
and a profound silence succeeded to the late deafening clamor. 

Was ever so diabolical a trick played off upon a holy friar ? 
A peasant going to his labors at early dawm found the unfor- 
tunate Fray Simon lying under a fig-tree at the foot of the 
tower, but so bruised and bedevilled that he could neither 
speak nor move. He Avas conveyed with all care and ten- 
derness to his cell, and the story went that he had been waylaid 

1 head. 
13 



194 LEGEND OF TWO DISCREET STATUES. 

and maltreated by robbers. A day or two elapsed before he 
recovered the use of his limbs; he consoled himself, in the 
meantime, with the thoughts that though the mule with the 
treasure had escaped him, he had previously had some rare 
pickings at the infidel spoils. His first care, on being able to 
use his limbs, was to search beneath his pallet, where he had 
secreted the myrtle wreath and the leathern pouches of gold 
extracted from the piety of dame Sanchez. What was his 
dismay at finding the wreath, in effect, but a withered branch 
of myrtle, and the leathern pouches filled with sand and 
gravel ! 

Fray Simon, with all his chagrin, had the discretion to hold 
his tongue; for to betray the secret might draw on him the 
ridicule of the public, and the punishment of his superior. It 
was not until many years afterwards, on his death-bed, that he 
revealed to his confessor his nocturnal ride on the Belludo. 

Nothing was heard of Lope Sanchez for a long time after 
his disappearance from the Alhambra. His memory was 
always cherished as that of a merry companion, though it was 
feared, from the care and melancholy observed in his conduct 
shortly before his mysterious departure, that poverty and dis- 
tress had driven him to some extremity. Some years after- 
wards, one of his old companions, an invalid soldier, being 
at Malaga, was knocked down and nearly run over by a coach 
and six. The carriage stopped; an old gentleman magnifi- 
cently dressed, with a bag-wig and sword, stepped out to assist 
the poor invalid. AVhat was the astonishment of the latter to 
behold in this grand cavalier his old friend Lope Sanchez, who 
was actually celebrating the marriage of his daughter Sanchica 
with one of the first grandees ^ in the land. 

The carriage contained the bridal party. There was dame 
Sanchez, now grown as round as a barrel, and dressed out with 
feathers and jewels, and necklaces of pearls, and necklaces of 
diamonds, and rings on every finger — altogether a finery of 

1 noblemen of high rank. 



LEGEND OF TWO DISCKEET STATUES. 195 

apparel that had not been seen since the days of Queen Sheba. 
The little Sanchica had now grown to be a woman, and for 
grace and beauty might have been mistaken for a duchess, if 
not a princess outright. The bridegroom sat beside her — ■ 
rather a withered, spindle-shanked little man, but this only 
proved him to be of the true-blue blood ; a legitimate Spanish 
grandee being rarely above three cubits ^ in stature. The 
match had been of the mother's making. 

Riches had not spoiled the heart of honest Lope. He kept 
his old comrade with him for several days, feasted him like a 
king, took him to plays and bull-fights, and at length sent 
him away rejoicing, with a big bag of money for himself, and 
another to be distributed among his ancient messmates of the 
Alhambra. 

Lope always gave out that a rich brother had died in Amer- 
ica and left him heir to a copper mine; but the shrewd gossips 
of the Alhambra insist that his wealth was all derived from 
his having discovered the secret guarded by the two marble 
nymphs of the Alhambra. It is remarked that these very 
discreet statues continue, even unto the present day, with their 
eyes fixed most significantly on the same part of the wall; 
which leads many to suppose there is still some hidden treas- 
ure remaining there, well worthy the attention of the enter- 
prising traveller; though others, and particularly all female 
visitors, regard them with great complacency ^ as lasting 
monuments of the fact that women can keep a secret. 

i four and a half feet. 3 satisfaction. 



THE CRUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF 
ALCANTARA. 

In the course of a morning's research among the old chroni- 
cles in the Library of the University, I came upon a little 
episode in the history of Granada, so strongly characteristic of 
the bigot zeal which sometimes inflamed the Christian enter- 
prises against this splendid but devoted city, that I was 
tempted to draw it forth from the j^archment-bound volume 
in which it lay entombed, and submit it to the reader. 

In the year of redemption, 1394, there was a valiant and 
devout grand master of Alcantara,^ named Martin Yanez de 
Barbudo, who was inflamed with a vehement desire to serve 
God and fight the Moors. Unfortunately for this brave and 
pious cavalier, a profound peace existed between the Christian 
and Moslem powers. Henry III.^ had just ascended the 
throne of Castile, and Yusef ben Mohammed had succeeded to 
the throne of Granada, and both were disposed to continue 
the peace which had prevailed between their fathers. The 
grand master looked with repining at Moorish banners and 
weapons which decorated his castle hall, trophies of the 
exploits of his predecessors, and repined at his fate to exist in 
a period of such inglorious tranquillity. 

At length his impatience broke through all bounds, and 
seeing that he could find no public war in which to engage, he 
resolved to carve out a little war for himself. Such, at least, is 
the account given by some ancient chronicles, though others 
give the following as the motive for this sudden resolution to 
go campaigning. 

As the grand master was one day seated at table with several 
of his cavaliers, a man suddenly entered the hall — tall, mea- 

1 to^^^l on the Tagus, near the border of Portugal. 2 surnamed " the sickly," 1390-1406. 



CRUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA. 197 

gre, and bony, with haggard countenance and fiery eye. All 
recognized him for a hermit, who had been a soldier in his 
youth, but now led a life of penitence in a cave. He 
advanced to the table, and struck upon it with a fist that 
seemed of iron. "Cavaliers," said he, ''why sit ye here 
idly, with your weapons resting against the wall, while the 
enemies of the faith lord it over the fairest portion of the 
land?" 

"Holy father, what wouldst thou have us do," asked the 
grand master, " seeing the wars are over, and our swords bound 
up by treaties of peace ? ' ' 

"Listen to my words," replied the hermit. "As I was 
seated late at night at the entrance of my cave, contemplating 
the heavens, I fell into a reverie, and a wonderful . vision was 
presented to me. I beheld the moon, a mere crescent, yet 
luminous as the brightest silver, and it hung in the heavens 
over the kingdom of Granada. While I was looking at it, 
behold, there shot forth from the firmament a blazing star, 
which, as it w^ent, drew after it all the stars of heaven; and 
they assailed the moon and drove it from the skies; and the 
whole firmament was filled Avith the glory of that blazing star. 
While mine eyes were yet dazzled by this wondrous sight, some 
one stood by me, with snowy wings and a shining countenance. 
* man of prayer,' said he, ' get thee to the grand master of 
Alcantara, and tell him of the vision thou hast beheld. He is 
the blazing star, destined to drive the crescent, the Moslem 
emblem, from the land. Let him boldly draw the sword and 
continue the good work begun by Pelazo of old, and victory 
will assuredly attend his banner." 

The grand master listened to the hermit as to a messenger 
from heaven, and followed his counsel in all things. By his 
advice he despatched two of his stoutest warriors, armed cap-a- 
pie,' on an embassy to the Moorish king. They entered the 
gates of Granada without molestation, as the nations were 

1 (kap-ah-pee'), from head to foot. 



198 CEUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA; 

at peace, and made their way to the Alhambra, where they 
were promptly admitted to the king, who received them in 
the Hall of Ambassadors. They delivered their message 
roundly and hardily. "We come, king, from. Don Mar- 
tin Yanez de Barbudo, grand master of Alcantara, who 
affirms the faith of Jesus Christ to be true and holy, and that 
of Mohammed false and detestable; and he challenges thee 
to maintain the contrary, hand to hand, in single combat. 
Shouldst thou refuse, he offers to combat with one hundred 
cavaliers against two hundred; or, in like proportion, to the 
number of one thousand, always allowing thy faith a double 
number of champions. Remember, king, that thou canst 
not refuse this challenge; since thy prophet, knowing the 
impossibility of maintaining his doctrines by argument, has 
commanded his followers to enforce them with the sword." 

The beard of King Yusef trembled with indignation. '* The 
master of Alcantara," said he, " is a madman to send such a 
message, and ye are saucy knaves to bring it." 

So saying, he ordered the ambassadors to be thrown into a 
dungeon, by way of giving them a lesson in diplomacy; ^ and 
they were roughly treated on their way thither by the popu- 
lace, who were exasperated^ at this insult to their sovereign 
and their faith. 

The grand master of Alcantara could scarcely credit the 
tidings of the maltreatment of his messengers; but the hermit 
rejoiced when they were repeated to him. "God," said he, 
"has blinded this infidel king for his downfall. Since he has 
sent no reply to thy defiance, consider it accepted. Marshal 
thy forces, therefore; march forward to Granada; pause not 
till thou seest the Gate of Elvira. A miracle will be wrought 
in thy favor. There will be a great battle; the enemy will be 
overthrown; but not one of thy soldiers will be slain." 

The grand master called upon every warrior zealous in the 
Christian cause to aid him in this crusade. In a little Avhile 

1 manner of conducting negotiations. 2 enraged. 



CRUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA. 199 

three hundred horsemen and a thousand foot-soldiers rallied 
under his standard. The horsemen were veterans, seasoned 
to battle, and well armed; but the infantry were raw and 
undisciplined. The victory, however, was to be miraculous. 
The grand master was a man of surpassing faith, and knew 
that the weaker tlie means the greater the miracle. He sallied 
forth confidently, therefore, with his little army, and the her- 
mit strode ahead, bearing a cross on the end of a long pole, 
and beneath it the pennon of the Order of Alcantara. 

As they approached the city of Cordova they were overtaken 
by messengers, spurring in all haste, bearing missives from the 
Castilian monarch, forbidding the enterprise. The grand 
master was a man of single mind and a single will; in other 
words, a man of one idea. ^' Were I on any other errand," 
said he, " I should obey these letters as coming from my lord 
the king; but I am sent by a higher power than the king. In 
compliance with its commands I have advanced the cross thus 
far against the infidels, and it would be treason to the stand- 
ard of Christ to turn back without achieving my errand." 

So the trumpets were sounded, the cross was again reared 
aloft, and the band of zealots resumed their march. As they 
passed through the streets of Cordova the people were amazed 
at beholding a hermit bearing a cross at the head of a warlike 
multitude; but when they learnt that a miraculous victory was 
to be effected, and Granada destroyed, laborers and artisans 
threw by the implements of their handicrafts, and joined in the 
crusade, while a mercenary rabble followed on with a view of 
plunder. 

A number of cavaliers of rank, who lacked faith in the 
promised miracle, and dreaded the consequences of this 
unprovoked irruption into the country of the Moor, assembled 
at the bridge of the G-uadalquivir, and endeavored to dissuade 
the grand master from crossing. He was deaf to prayers, 
expostulations,' or menaces; "^ his followers were enraged at 

1 earnest protests. a threats. 



200 CRUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA. 

tliis opposition to the cause of the faith ; they put an end to 
the parley by their clamors; the cross was again reared^ and 
borne triumphantly across the bridge. 

The multitude increased as it proceeded. By the time the 
grand master had reached Alcala la Real, which stands on a 
mountain overlooking the Vega of Grranada, u]3wards of five 
thousand men on foot had joined his standard. 

x\t Alcala came forth Alonzo Fernandez de Cordova, Lord 
of Aguilar, his brother Diego Fernandez, Marshal of Castile, 
and other cavaliers of valor and experience. Placing themselves 
in the way of the grand master, " What madness is this, Don 
Martin?" said they. "The Moorish king has two hundred 
thousand foot-soldiers and five thousand horse within his wall. 
What can you and your handful of cavaliers and your noisy 
rabble do against such force ? Bethink you of the disasters 
which have befallen other Christian commanders who have 
crossed these rocky borders with ten times your force. Think, 
too, of the mischief that will be brought upon this kingdom 
by an outrage of the kind committed by a man of your rank 
and importance, a grand master of Alcantara. Pause, we 
entreat you, while the truce is yet unbroken. Await within 
the borders the reply of the king of Granada to your chal- 
lenge. If he agree to meet you singly, or Avith champions two 
or three, it will be your individual contest, and fight it out in 
God's name; if he refuse, you may return home with, great 
honor, and the disgrace will fall upon the Moors." 

Several cavaliers, who had hitherto followed the grand 
master with devoted zeal, were moved by these expostulations, 
and suggested to him the policy of listening to this advice. 

"Cavaliers," said he, addressing himself to Alonzo Fer- 
nandez de Cordova and his companions, " I thank you for the 
counsel you have so kindly bestowed upon me, and if I were 
merely in pursuit of individual glory I might be swayed by it. 
But I am engaged to achieve a great triumph of the faith, 
which God is to effect by miracle through my means. As to 



CRUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA. 201 

3^011, cavaliers," turning to those of his followers who had 
wavered, ''if your hearts fail you, or you repent of having 
put your hands to this good work, return, in God's name, and 
my blessing go with you. For myself, tliough I have none to 
stand by me but this holy hermit, yet will I assuredly proceed 
until I have planted this sacred standard on the walls of Gra- 
nada, or perished in the attempt." 

"Don Martin Yafiez de Barbudo," replied the cavaliers, 
" we are not men to turn our backs upon our commander, 
however rash his enterprise. We spoke but in caution. Lead 
on, therefore, and if it be to the death, be assured to the 
death we will follow thee." 

By this time the common soldiers became impatient. " For- 
ward! forward!" shouted they. ''Forward in the cause of 
faith." So the grand master gave signal, the hermit again 
reared the cross aloft, and they poured down a defile of the 
mountain, with solemn chants of triumph. 

That night they encamped at the river of Azores, and the 
next morning, which was Sunda}^, crossed the borders. Their 
first pause was at an atalaya, or solitary tower, built upon a 
rock; a frontier post to keep a watch upon the border, and 
give notice of invasion. It was thence called el Torre del 
Exea (the Tower of the Spy). The grand master halted before 
it and summoned its petty garrison to surrender. He was 
answered by a shower of stones and arrows, which wounded 
him in the hand and killed three of his men. 

"How is this, father ? " said he to the hermit. " You assured 
me that not one of my followers would be slain." 

"True, my son; but I meant in the great battle of the 
infidel king. What need is there of miracle to aid in the cap- 
ture of a petty tower ? " 

The grand master was satisfied. He ordered wood to be 
piled against the door of the tower to burn it down. In the 
meantime provisions were unloaded from the sumpter-mules,' 

' mules used for can-ying burdens. 



202 CEUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA. 

and the crusaders, withdrawing beyond bow-shot, sat down 
on the grass to a repast to strengthen them for the arduous 
day's work before them. While thus engaged, they were 
startled by sudden appearance of a great Moorish host. The 
atalayas had the given the alarm, by fire and smoke, from 
the mountain tops, of "an enemy across the border," and the 
king of Granada had sallied forth with a great force to the 
encounter. 

The crusaders, nearly taken by surprise, flew to arms, and 
prepared for battle. The grand master ordered his three hun- 
dred horsemen to dismount, and fight on foot in support of the 
infantry. The Moors, however, charged so suddenly that 
they separated the cavaliers from the foot-soldiers, and pre- 
vented their uniting. The grand master gave the old war cry : 
' ' Santiago ! Santiago ! and close Spain ! ' ' He and his knights 
breasted the fury of the battle, but were surrounded by a 
countless host, and assailed with arrows, stones, darts, and 
arquebuses.^ Still they fought fearlessly, and made prodi- 
gious slaughter. The hermit mingled in the hottest of the 
fight. In one hand he bore the cross, in the other he bran- 
dished a sword, with which he dealt about him like a maniac, 
slaying several of the enemy, until he sank to the ground 
covered with wounds. The grand master saw him fall, and 
saw too late the fallacy of his prophecies. Despair, however, 
only made him fight the more fiercely, until he also fell, over- 
powered by numbers. His devoted cavaliers emulated ^ his 
holy zeal. Not one turned his back nor asked for mercy; all 
fought until they fell. As to the foot-soldiers, many were 
killed, many taken prisoners; the residue escaped to Alcala la 
Eeal. When the Moors came to strip the slain, the wounds 
of the cavaliers w^ere all found to be in front. 

Such was the catastrophe ^ of this fanatic enterprise. The 
Moors vaunted it as a decisive proof of the superior sanctity of 

' sort of hand-guns, like a musket. 3 a disastroue event. 

2 strove to equal or excel. 



CRUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA. 203 

their faith, and extolled their king to the skies when he 
returned in triumph to Granada. 

As it was satisfactorily shown that this crusade was the enter- 
prise of an individual, and contrary to the express orders of 
the king of Castile, the peace of the two kingdoms was not 
interrupted. Nay, the Moors evinced a feeling of respect for 
the valor of the unfortunate grand master, and readily gave 
up his body to Don Alonzo Fernandez de Cordova, who came 
from Alcala to seek it. The Christians of the frontier united 
in paying the last sad honors to his memory. His body was 
placed upon a bier, covered with the pennon of the order of 
Alcantara; and the broken cross, the emblem of his confident 
hopes and fatal disappointment, was borne before it. In this 
way his remains were carried back in funeral procession, 
through the mountain track which he had traversed so reso- 
lutely. Wherever it passed, through a town or village, the 
populace followed, with tears and lamentations, bewailing him 
as a valiant knight and a martyr to the faith. His body was 
interred in the chapel of the convent of Santa Maria de Almo- 
covara, and on his sepulchre may still be seen engraven in 
quaint and antique Spanish the following testimonial to his 
bravery : 



LEGEND OF DON MUKIO SANOHO DE HINOJOSA. 

Ii^ the cloisters of the ancient Benedictine convent of San 
Domingo, at Silos, in Castile, are the mouldering yet mag- 
nificent monuments of the once powerful and chivalrous fam- 
ily of Hinojosa. Among these reclines the marble figure of a 
knight, in complete armor, with the hands pressed together, 
as if in prayer. On one side of his tomb is sculptured in 
relief a band of Christian cavaliers, capturing a cavalcade of 
male and female Moors ; on the other side, the same cavaliers 
are represented kneeling before an altar. The tomb, like 
most of the neighboring monuments, is almost in ruins, and the 
sculpture is nearly unintelligible, excepting to the keen eye of 
the antiquary.^ The story connected with the sepulchre, how- 
ever, is still preserved in the old Spanish chronicles, and is to 
the following purport: 

In old times, several hundred years ago, there was a noble 
Castilian cavalier, named Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa, 
lord of a border castle, which had stood the brunt of many a 
Moorish foray. He had seventy horsemen as his household 
troops, all of the ancient Castilian proof — stark ^ warriors, 
hard riders, and men of iron; with these he scoured the Moor- 
ish lands, and made his name terrible throughout the borders. 
His castle hall was covered with banners, cimeters, and Mos- 
lem helms, the trophies of his prowess. Don Munio was, 
moreover, a keen huntsman, and rejoiced in hounds of all 
kinds, steeds for the chase, and hawks for the towering sport 
of falconry. When not engaged in warfare, his delight was to 
beat up the neighboring forests; and scarcely ever did he ride 

1 lover and student of ancient things. i strong ; rugged. 



LEGEND OF DON MUNIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA. 205 

forth without hound and horn, a boar-spear in his hand, or 
a hawk upon his fist, and an attendant train of huntsmen. 

His wife, Dona Maria Palacin, was of a gentle and timid 
nature, little fitted to be the spouse of so hardy and adventur- 
ous a knight; and many a tear did the poor lady shed when 
he sallied forth upon his daring enterprises, and many a 
prayer did she offer up for his safety. 

As this doughty cavalier was one day hunting, he stationed 
himself in a thicket, on the borders of a green glade of the 
forest, and dispersed his followers to rouse the game and 
drive it toAvard his stand. He had not been here long, when 
a cavalcade of Moors, of both sexes, came prankling ' over 
the forest lawn. They were unarmed, and magnificently 
dressed in robes of tissue and embroidery, rich shawls of 
India, bracelets and anklets of gold, and jewels that sparkled 
in the sun. 

At the head of this gay cavalcade rode a youthful cavalier, 
superior to the rest in dignity and loftiness of demeanor, and 
in splendor of attire; beside him was a damsel whose veil, 
blown aside by the breeze, displayed a face of surpassing 
beauty, and eyes cast down in maiden modesty, yet beaming 
with tenderness and joy. 

Don Munio thanked his stars for sending him such a prize, 
and exulted at the thought of bearing home to his wife the 
glittering spoils of these infidels. Putting his hunting horn 
to his lips, he gave a blast that rung through the forest. His 
huntsmen came running from all quarters, and the astonished 
Moors were surrounded and made captives. 

The beautiful Moor wrung her hands in despair, and her 
female attendants uttered the most piercing cries. The young 
Moorish cavalier alone retained self-possession. He inquired 
the name of the Christian knight who commanded this troop 
of horsemen. When told that it was Don Munio Sancho de 
Hinojosa, his countenance lighted up. Approaching that 

' pnincing. 



206 LEGEND OF DON MUNIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA. 

cavalier, and kissing his hand, " Don Munio Sancho," said he, 
"I have heard of your fame as a true and valiant knight, 
terrible in arms, but schooled in the noble virtues of chivalry. 
Such do I trust to find you. In me you behold Abadil, son of 
a Moorish alcayde. I am on tiie Avay to celebrate my nuptials 
with this lady. Chance has thrown us in your power, but I 
confide in your magnanimity. Take all our treasure and 
jewels ; demand what ransom you think proper for our persons, 
but suffer us not to be insulted nor dishonored." 

When the good knight heard this appeal, and beheld the 
beauty of the youthful pair, his heart was touched with ten- 
derness and courtesy. " God forbid," said he, " that I should 
disturb such happy nuptials. My prisoners, in troth, shall ye 
be for fifteen days, and immured within my castle, where I 
claim, as conqueror, the right of celebrating your espousals." 

So saying, he despatched one of his fleetest horsemen in 
advance, to notify Dona Maria Palacin of the coming of this 
bridal party; while he and his huntsmen escorted the caval- 
cade, not as captors, but as a guard of honor. As they drew 
near to the castle, the banners were hung out, and the trum- 
pets sounded from the battlements; and on their nearer 
approach, the drawbridge Avas lowered, and Dona Maria came 
forth to meet them, attended by her ladies and knights, her 
pages and her minstrels. She took the young bride, Allifra, 
in her arms, kissed her with the tenderness of a sister, and 
conducted her into the castle. In the mean time, Don Munio 
sent forth missives in every direction, and had viands and 
dainties of all kinds collected from the country round; and 
the wedding of the Moorish lovers was celebrated with all 
possible state and festivity. For fifteen days the castle was 
given up to joy and revelry. There were tiltings and jousts 
at the ring, and bull-fights and banquets and dances to the 
sound of minstrelsy. When the fifteen days were at an end, 
he made the bride and bridegroom magnificent presents, and 
conducted them and their attendants safely beyond the bor- 



LEGEND OF DON MUNIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA. 207 

ders. Such, in old times, were the courtesy aud generosity of 
a Spanish cavalier. 

Several years after this event, the king of Castile summoned 
his nobles to assist him in a campaign against the Moors. Don 
Munio Sancho was among the first to answer to tlie call, with 
seventy horsemen, all stanch and well-tried warriors. His 
wife. Dona Maria, hung about his neck. ''Alas! my lord!" 
exclaimed she, "how often wilt thou tempt thy fate, and 
when will thy thirst for glory be appeased ? " 

'•' One battle more," replied Don Munio, "one battle more 
for the honor of Castile; and I here make a vow, that when 
this is over, I will lay by my sword, and repair with my cavaliers 
in pilgrimage to the sepulchre of our Lord at Jerusalem." 
The cavaliers all joined with him in the vow, and Dona 
Maria felt in some degree soothed in spirit; still, she saw with 
a heavy heart the departure of her husband, and watched his 
banner with wistful eyes, until it disappeared among the trees 
in the forest. 

The king of Castile led his army to the Plain of Alma- 
nara, where they encountered the Moorish host, near to Ucles. ' 
The battle was long and bloody; the Christians repeatedly 
wavered, and were as often rallied by the energy of their com- 
manders. Don Munio was covered with wounds, but refused 
to leave the field. The Christians at length gave way, and 
the king was hardly pressed, and in danger of being captured. 

Don Munio called upon his cavaliers to follow him to the 
rescue. " JS'ow is the time," cried he, " to prove your loyalty. 
Fall to, like brave men! We fight for the true faith, and if 
we lose our lives here, we gain a better life hereafter." 

Eushing with his men between the king and his pursuers, 
they checked the latter in their career, and gave time for their 
monarch to escape; but they fell victims to their loyalty. 
They all fought to the last gasp. Don Munio was singled out 
by a powerful Moorish knight, but having been wounded in 

» town about fifty miles southeast of Madrid. 



208 LEGEND OF DON MUNIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA. 

the right arm, he fought to disadvantage, and was slain. The 
battle being over, the Moor paused to possess himself of the 
spoils of this redoubtable Christian warrior. When he unlaced 
the helmet, however, and beheld the countenance of Don 
Munio, he gave a great cry, and smote his breast. "Woe is 
me! " cried he, " I have slain my benefactor! The flower of 
knightly virtue! The most magnanimous^ of cavaliers! " 

While the battle had been raging on the Plain of Almanara, 
Dona Maria Palacin remained in her castle, a prey to the keenest 
anxiety. Her eyes were ever fixed on the road that led from 
the country of the Moors, and often she asked the watchman 
of the tower, " What seest thou ? " 

One evening, at the shadowy hour of twilight, the warden 
sounded his horn. "I see," cried he, "a numerous train 
winding up the valley. There are mingled Moors and Chris- 
tians. The banner of my lord is in the advance. Joyful tid- 
ings!" exclaimed the old seneschal.'^ "My lord returns in 
triumph, and brings captives! " Then the castle courts rang 
with shouts of joy, and the standard was displayed, and the 
trumpets were sounded, and the drawbridge was lowered, and 
Dona Maria went forth with her ladies and her knights and 
her pages and her minstrels, to welcome her lord from the 
wars. But as the train drew nigh, she beheld a sumptuous 
bier, covered with black velvet, and on it lay a warrior, as if 
taking his repose. He lay in his armor, with his helmet on his 
head, and his sword in his hand, as one who had never been 
conquered ; and around the bier were the escutcheons of the 
house of Hinojosa. 

A number of Moorish cavaliers attended the bier, with 
emblems of mourning, and with dejected countenances; and 
their leader cast himself at the feet of Dona Maria, and hid 
his face in his hands. She beheld in him the gallant Abadil, 
whom she had once welcomed with his bride to her castle; but 

1 great or high minded. 2 steward who had charge of the house. 



LEGEND OF DON MUNIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA. 209 

who DOW came with the body of her lord, whom he had 
unknowingly slain in battle. 

The sepulchre erected in the cloisters of the convent of San 
Domingo was achieved at the expense of the Moor Abadil, 
as a feeble testimony of his grief for the death of the good 
knight Don Munio, and his reverence for his memory. The 
tender and faithful Doiia Maria soon followed her lord to the 
tomb. On one of the stones of a small arch, beside his sep- 
ulchre, is the following simple inscription: "Here lies Maria 
Palacin, wife of Munio Sancho de Hinojosa." 

The legend of Don Munio Sancho does not conclude with his 
death. On the same day on which the battle took place on the 
Plain of Almanara, a chaplain of the Holy Temple at Jerusa- 
lem, while standing at the outer gate, beheld a train of Chris- 
tian cavaliers advancing, as if in pilgrimage. The chaplain 
was a native of Spain, and, as the pilgrims approached, he 
knew the foremost to be Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa, with 
whom he had been well acquainted in former times. Hasten- 
ing to the patriarch,^ he told him of the honorable rank of 
the pilgrims at the gate. The patriarch, therefore, went forth 
with a grand procession of priests and monks, and received 
the pilgrims with all due honor. There were seventy cava- 
liers, beside their leader, all stark and lofty warriors. They 
carried their helmets in their hands, and their faces were 
deadly pale. They greeted no one, nor looked either to the 
right or to the left, but entered the chapel, and, kneeling 
before the sepulchre of our Saviour, performed their orisons 
in silence. When they had concluded, they rose as if to 
depart, and the patriarch and his attendants advanced to speak 
to them, but they Avere no more to be seen. Every one marvelled 
what could be the meaning of this prodigy.^ The patriarch 
carefully noted down the day, and sent to Castile to learn tid- 
ings of Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa. He received for 
reply, that on the very day specified, that worthy knight, with 

1 high ecclesiastical diguitary. 2 marvel ; extraordinary occurrence. 

14 



210 LEGEND OF DON MUNIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA. 

seventy of his followers, had been slain in battle. These, 
therefore, must have been the blessed spirits of those Chris- 
tian warriors, come to fulfil their vow of pilgrimage to the 
Holy Sepulchre ' at Jerusalem. Such was Oastilian faith in 
the olden time, which kept its word, even beyond the grave. 

1 the burial place of the Saviour. 



THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 

Everybody has heard of the Cave of St. Cyprian at Sala- 
manca/ where in old times judicial astronomy, necromancy/ 
chiromancy/ and other dark and damnable arts were secretly 
taught by an ancient sacristan; ^ or, as some will have it, by 
the devil himself, in that disguise. The cave has long been 
shut up and the very site of it forgotten; though, according 
to tradition, the entrance was somewhere about where the 
stone cross stands in the small square of the seminary of Car- 
vajal ; and this tradition appears in some degree corroborated ^ 
by the circumstances of the following story. 

There was at one time a student of Salamanca, Don Vicente 
by name, of that merry but mendicant ^ class who set out on 
the road to learning without a penny in pouch for the journey, 
and who, during college vacations, beg from town to town, and 
village to village, to raise funds to enable them to pursue 
their studies through the ensuing term. He was now about 
to set forth on his wanderings, and, being somewhat musical, 
slung on his back a guitar with which to amuse the villagers, 
and pay for a meal or a night's lodgings. 

As he passed by the stone cross in the seminary square, he 
pulled off his hat, and made a short invocation ' to St. 
Cyprian, for good luck; when, casting his eyes upon the earth, 
he perceived something glitter at the foot of the cross. On 
picking it up, it proved to be a seal ring of mixed metal, in 
which gold and silver appeared to be blended. The seal bore 

* a seat of learning, the Oxford of Spain ; * sexton, 

northwest from Madrid, in province of Leon. ^ confirmed ; strengthened. 

a art of magic. ^ begging. 

3 palmistry ; art of telling fortunes by in- '' prayer, 
gpecting the lines of the hand. 



212 THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 

as a device two triangles crossing each other, so as to form a 
star. This device is said to be a cabalistic sign, invented by 
King Solomon the wise, and of mighty power in all cases of 
enchantment; but the honest student, being neither sage nor 
conjurer, knew nothing of the matter. He took the ring as a 
present from St. Cyprian in reward of his prayer, slipped it 
on his finger, made a bow to the cross, and strumming his 
guitar, set off merrily on his wandering. 

The life of a mendicant student in Spain is not the most 
miserable in the world, especially if he has any talent at mak- 
ing himself agreeable. He rambles at large from village to 
village, and city to city, wherever curiosity or caprice may con- 
duct him. The country curates, who, for the most part, have 
been mendicant students in their time, give him shelter for 
the night, and a comfortable meal, and often enrich him with 
several quartos or half -pence in the morning. As he presents 
himself from door to door in the streets of the cities, he meets 
with no harsh rebuff, no chilling contempt, for there is no 
disgrace attending his mendicity. ^ Many of the most learned 
men in Spain having commenced their career in this manner; 
but if, like the student in question, he is a good-looking varlet 
and a merry companion, and, above all, if he can play the 
guitar, he is sure of a hearty welcome among the peasants, and 
smiles and favors from their wives and daughters. 

In this way, then, did our ragged and musical son of learn- 
ing make his way over half the kingdom, with the fixed deter- 
mination to visit the famous city of Granada before his return. 
Sometimes he was gathered for the night into the fold of some 
village pastor; sometimes he was sheltered -under the humble 
but hospitable roof of the peasant. Seated at the cottage door 
with his guitar, he delighted the simple folk with his ditties; 
or striking up a fandango'^ or bolero, set the brown country 
lads and lasses dancing in the mellow twilight. In the morn- 
ing he departed with kind words from host and hostess, and 

» life as a beggar. * kind of dance. 



THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 213 

kind looks and, peradventure, a squeeze of the hand from the 
daughter. 

At length he arrived at the great object of his musical vaga- 
bondizing, the far-famed city of Granada, and hailed with 
wonder and delight its Moorish towers, its lovely Vega, and its 
snowy mountains glistering through a summer atmosphere. 
It is needless to say with what eager curiosity he entered its 
gates and wandered through its streets, and gazed upon its 
Oriental monuments. Every female face peering through a 
window or beaming from a balcony was to him a Zorayda or a 
Zelinda, nor could he meet a stately dame on the Alameda,^ 
but he was ready to fancy her a Moorish princess, and to 
spread his student's robe beneath her feet. 

His musical talent, his happy humor, his youth, and his 
good looks, won him a universal welcome in spite of his ragged 
robes, and for several days he led a gay life in the old Moorish 
capital and its environs. One of his occasional haunts was the 
fountain of Avellanos, in the valley of the Darro. It is one 
of the popular resorts of Oranada, and has been so since the 
days of the Moors; and here the student had an opportunity 
of pursuing his studies of female beauty, a branch of study 
to which he was a little prone. 

Here he would take his seat with his guitar, improvise love- 
ditties to admiring groups, or prompt with his music the ever 
ready dance. He was thus engaged one evening, when he 
beheld a padre ' of the Church advancing, at whose approach 
every one touched the hat. He was evidently a man of con- 
sequence; he certainly was a mirror of good, if not of holy, 
living; robust and rosy-faced, and breathing at every pore, 
with the warmth of the weather and the exercise of the walk. 
As he passed along he would every now and then draw a mar- 
avedi out of his pocket, and bestow it on a beggar, with an air 
of signal beneficence. "Ah, the blessed father!" would be 
the cry. " Long life to him, and may he soon be a bishop! " 

1 a shaded public walk. 2 father ; priest. 



214 THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 

To aid his steps in ascending the hill, he leaned gently now 
and then on the arm of a handmaid, evidently the pet lamb 
of this kindest of pastors. Ah, such a damsel ! Andalus from 
head to foot — from the rose in her hair, to the fairy shoe and 
lace-work stocking; Andalus in every movement; in every 
undulation ^ of the body — ripe, melting Andalus! But then 
so modest ! — so shy ! — ever, with downcast eyes, listening to 
the words of the padre ; or if by chance she let flash a side- 
glance, it was suddenly checked and her eyes once more cast to 
the ground. 

The good padre looked benignantly on the company about 
the fountain, and took his seat with some emphasis on a stone 
bench, while the handmaid hastened to bring him a glass of 
sparkling water. He sipped it deliberately, and with relish, 
tempering it with one of those spongy pieces of frosted eggs 
and sugar so dear to Spanish epicures,^ and on returning the 
glass to the hand of the damsel pinched her cheek with infi- 
nite loving-kindness. 

"Ah, the good pastor! " whispered the student to himself. 
" What a happiness would it be to be gathered into his fold 
with such a pet lamb for a companion ! ' ' 

But no such good fare was likely to befall him. In vain he 
essayed those powers of pleasing which he had found so irre- 
sistible with country curates and country lasses. . Never had 
he touched his guitar with such skill; never had he poured 
forth more soul-moving ditties; but he had no longer a coun- 
try curate or country lass to deal with. The worthy priest 
evidently did not relish music, and the modest damsel never 
raised her eyes from the ground. They remained but a short 
time at the fountain. The good padre hastened their return to 
G-ranada. The damsel gave the student one shy glance in 
retiring, but it plucked the heart out of his bosom ! 

He inquired about them after they had gone. Padre Tomds 
was one of the saints of Granada, a model of regularity — 

1 wave-like motion. 2 dainty eaters. 



THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 215 

punctual in his hour of rising ; his hour of taking a paseo ' 
for an appetite; his hours of eating; his hour of taking his 
siesta; ^ his hour of playing his game of tresillo/ of an even- 
ing, with some of the dames of the cathedral circle; his hour 
of supping; and his hour of retiring to rest, to gather fresh 
strength for another day's round of similar duties. He had 
an easy, sleek mule for his riding; a matronly housekeeper, 
skilled in preparing tit-bits for his table; and the pet lamb, 
to smooth his pillow at night, and bring him his chocolate in 
the morning. 

Adieu now to the gay, thoughtless life of the student; the 
side-glance of a bright eye had been the undoing of him. 
Day and night he could not get the image of this most mod- 
est damsel out of his mind. He sought the mansion of the 
padre. Alas ! it was above the class of houses accessible to a 
strolling student like himself. The worthy padre had no 
sympathy with him; he had never been Estudiante sopista,'^ 
obliged to sing for his supper. He blockaded the house 
by day, catching a glance of the damsel now and then as she 
appeared at a casement ; but these glances only fed his flame 
without encouraging his hope. He serenaded her balcony at 
night, and at one time was flattered by the appearance of 
something white at a window. Alas, it was only the nightcap 
of the padre. 

^^ever was lover more devoted ; never damsel more shy ; the 
poor student was reduced to despair. At length arrived the eve 
of St. John, when the lower classes of G-ranada swarm into the 
country, dance away the afternoon, and pass midsummer's 
night on the banks of the Darro and the Xenil. Happy are 
they who, on this eventful night, can wash their faces in those 
waters just as the cathedral bell tells midnight; for at that 
precise moment they have a beautifying power. The student, 
having nothing to do, suffered himself to be carried away by 
the holiday-seeking throng until he found himself in the 

1 walk. 3 nap. ^ game of cards. ■* a singing student. 



216 THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 

narrow valley of the Darro, beloAV the lofty hill and ruddy 
towers of the Alhambra. The dry bed of the river, the rocks 
which border it, the terraced gardens which overhang it, were 
alive with variegated ^ groups, dancing under the vines and 
fig-trees to the sound of the guitar and castanets. 

The student remained for some time in doleful dumps, lean- 
ing against one of the huge missha]3en stone pomegranates 
which adorn the ends of the little bridge over the Darro. He 
cast a wistful glance upon the merry scene, where every cava- 
lier had his dame; or, to speak more appropriately, every Jack 
his Jill; sighed at his own solitary state, a victim to the black 
eye of the most unapproachable of damsels, and repined at his 
ragged garb, which seemed to shut the gate of hope against him. 

By degrees his attention was attracted to a neighbor equally 
solitary with himself. This was a tall soldier, of a stern 
aspect and grizzled beard, who seemed posted as a sentry at the 
opposite pomegranate. His face was bronzed- by time; he was 
arrayed in ancient Spanish armor, with buckler and lance, and 
stood immovable as a statue. What surprised the student 
was, that though thus strangely equipped, he was totally 
unnoticed by the passing throng, albeit that many almost 
brushed against him. 

"This is a city of old-time peculiarities," thought the 
student, "and doubtless this is one of them with which the 
inhabitants are too familiar to be surprised." His own curi- 
osity, however, was awakened; and, being of a social disposi- 
tion, he accosted the soldier. 

"A rare old suit of armor that which you wear, comrade. 
May I ask what corps you belong to ? " 

The soldier gasped out a reply from a pair of jaws which 
seemed to have rusted on their hinges. 

"The royal guard of Ferdinand ^ and Isabella." 

" Santa Maria! Why, it is three centuries since that corps 
was in service." 

1 of diflferent colors. 2 Ferdinand V. of Aragon, 1452-1516 ; married Isabella, 1469. 



THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 217 

"And for three centuries have I been mounting guard. 
Now I trust my tour of duty draws to a close. Dost thou 
desire fortune? " 

The student held up his tattered cloak in reply. 

'' I understand thee. If thou hast faith and courage, fol- 
low me, and thy fortune is made." 

*^ Softly, comrade. To follow thee would require small cour- 
age in one who has nothing to lose but life and an old guitar, 
neither of much value; but my faith is of a different matter, 
and not to be put in temptation. If it be any criminal act 
by which I am to mend my fortune, think not my ragged 
cloak will make me undertake it." 

The soldier turned on him a look of high displeasure. " My 
sword," said he, "has never been drawn but in the cause of 
the faith and the throne. I am a Cristiano viejo; ^ trust in 
me and fear no evil." 

The student followed him, wondering. He observed that no 
one heeded their conversation, and that the soldier made his 
way through the various groups of idlers unnoticed, as if 
invisible. 

Crossing the bridge, the soldier led the way by a narrow and 
steep path past a Moorish mill and aqueduct, and up the 
ravine which separates the domains of the Generalife from 
those of the Alhambra. The last ray of the sun shone upon 
the red battlements of the latter, which beetled far above; and 
the convent bells were proclaiming the festival of the ensuing 
day. The ravine was overshadowed by fig-trees, vines, and 
myrtles, and the outer towers and walls of the fortress. It 
was dark and lonely, and the twilight-loving bats began to flit 
about. At length the soldier halted at a remote and ruined 
tower, apparently intended to guard a Moorish aqueduct. He 
struck the foundation with the butt-end of his spear. A 
rumbling sound was heard, and the solid stones yawned apart, 
leaving an opening as wide as a door. 

' old Christian. 



218 THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 

" Enter iu the name of the Holy Trinity/' said the soldier, 
"and fear nothing." The student's heart quaked, but he 
made the sign of the cross, muttered his Ave Maria, and fol- 
lowed his mysterious guide into a deep vault cut out of the 
solid rock under the tower, and covered with Arabic inscrip- 
tions. The soldier pointed to a stone seat hewn along one 
side of the vault. "Behold," said he, "my couch for three 
hundred years." The bewildered student tried to force 
a joke. " By the blessed St. Anthony," said he, "but you 
must have slept soundly, considering the hardness of your 
couch." 

"On the contrary, sleep has been a stranger to these eyes; 
incessant watchfulness has been my doom. Listen to my lot. 
I was one of the royal guards of Ferdinand and Isabella, but 
was taken prisoner by the Moors in one of their sorties, and 
confined a captive in this tower. AYhen preparations were 
made to surrender the fortress to the Christian sovereigns, I 
was prevailed upon by an alfaqui, a Moorish priest, to aid him 
in secreting some of the treasures of Boabdil in this vault. I 
was justly punished for my fault. The alfaqui was an Afri- 
can necromancer,^ and by his infernal arts cast a spell upon 
me, to guard his treasures. Something must have happened 
to him, for he never returned, and here I have remained ever 
since, buried alive. Years and years have rolled away; earth- 
quakes have shaken this hill; I have heard stone by stone of 
the tower above tumbling to the ground, in the natural opera- 
tion of time; but the spellbound walls of this vault set both 
time and earthquakes at defiance. 

" Once every hundred years, on the festival of St. John, the 
enchantment ceases to have thorough sway. I am permitted to 
go forth and post myself upon the bridge of the Darro, where 
you met me, waiting until some one shall arrive who may 
have power to break this magic spell. I have hitherto 
mounted guard there in vain. I walk as in a cloud, concealed 

» sorcerer ; wizard. 



THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 219 

from mortal sight. You are the first to accost me for now 
three hundred years. I behold the reason. I see on your 
finger the seal ring of Solomon the wise, which is proof 
against all enchantment. With you it remains to deliver me 
from this awful dungeon, or to leave me to keep guard here for 
another hundred years." 

The student listened to this tale in mute wonderment. He 
had heard many tales of treasure shut up under strong enchant- 
ment in the vaults of the Alhambra, but had treated them 
as fables. He now felt the value of the seal ring, which had, 
in a manner, been given to him by St. Cyprian. Still, though 
armed by so potent a talisman, it was an awful thing to find 
himself tete-a-tete ^ in such a place with an enchanted soldier, 
who, according to the laws of nature, ought to have been 
quietly in his grave for nearly three centuries. 

A personage of this kind, however, was quite out of the 
ordinary run, and not to be trifled with, and he assured him 
he might rely upon his friendship and good will to do every- 
thing in his power for his deliverance. 

*'I trust to a motive more powerful than friendship," said 
the soldier. 

He pointed to a ponderous'^ iron coffer, secured by locks 
inscribed with Arabic characters. "That coffer," said he, 
"contains countless treasure in gold and jewels and precious 
stones. Break the magic spell by which I am enthralled, and 
one half of this treasure shall be thine." 

" But how am I to do it ? " 

"The aid of a Christian priest and a Christian maid is 
necessary; the priest to exorcise ^ the powers of darkness, 
the damsel to touch this chest with the seal of Solomon. 
This must be done at night. But have a care. This is 
solemn work, and not to be effected by the carnal-minded. 
The priest must be a Cristiano viejo, a model of sanctity; and 
must mortify the flesh, before lie comes here, by a rigorous 

» (tayt-ah-tayt), face to face. ^ heavy. s to drive out. 



220 THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER. 

fast of foLir-and-twenty hours; and as to tlie maiden^ she must 
be above reproach, and proof against temptation. Linger not 
in finding such aid. In three days my furlough is at an end ; 
if not delivered before midnight of the third, I shall have to 
mount guard for another century. ' ' 

" Fear not/' said the student; " I have in my eye the very 
priest and damsel you describe ; but how am I to regain admis- 
sion to this tower? " 

" The seal of Solomon will open the way for thee." 

The student issued forth from the tower much more gayly 
than he had entered. The wall closed behind him, and 
remained solid as before. 

The next morning he repaired boldly to the mansion of the 
priest, no longer a poor, strolling student, thrumming his way 
with a guitar; but an ambassador from the shadowy world, 
with enchanted treasures to bestow. No particulars are told 
of his negotiation,^ excepting that the zeal of the worthy 
priest was easily kindled at the idea of rescuing an old soldier 
of the faith, and a strong-box of King Chico, from the very 
clutches of Satan; and then what alms might be dispensed, 
what churches built, and how many poor relatives enriched 
with the Moorish treasure! 

As to the immaculate handmaid, she was ready to lend her 
hand, which was all that was required, to the pious work; and 
if a shy glance now and then might be believed, the ambassa- 
dor began to find favor in her modest eyes. 

The greatest difficulty, however, was the fast to which the 
good padre had to subject himself. Twice he attempted it, and 
twice the flesh was too strong for the spirit. It was only on 
the third day that he was enabled to withstand the temptations 
of the cupboard ; but it was still a question whether he 
would hold out until the spell was broken. 

At a late hour of the night the party groped their way up 
the ravine, by the light of a Ismtern, and bearing a basket with 

» bargaining what conditions should be agreed on. 



THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDTEK. 221 

provisions for exorcising the demon of hunger so soon as the 
other demons should be laid in the Red Sea.' 

The seal of Solomon opened their way into the tower. They 
found the soldier seated on the enchanted strong-box, awaiting 
their arrival. The exorcism was performed in due style. The 
damsel advanced, and touched the locks of the coffer with the 
seal of Solomon. The lid flew open, and such treasures of 
gold and jewels and precious stones as flashed upon the eye ! 

"Here's cut, and come again!" cried the student, exult- 
ingly, as he proceeded to cram his pockets. 

"Fairly and softly," exclaimed the soldier. "Let us get 
the coffer out entire, and then divide." 

They accordingly went to work with might and main, but 
it was a difficult task; the chest was enormously heavy, and 
had been embedded there for centuries. While they were thus 
employed, the good dominie drew on one side, and made a vig- 
orous onslaught on the basket, by way of exorcising the demon 
of hunger which was raging in his entrails. In a little 
while a fat capon ^ was devoured, and washed down by a deep 
potation; ^ and, by way of grace after meat, he gave a kind- 
hearted kiss to the pet lamb who waited on him. It was 
quietly done in a corner, but the tell-tale walls babbled it forth 
as if in triumph. Never was chaste salute more awful in its 
effects. At the sound the soldier gave a great cry of despair; 
the coffer, which was half raised, fell back in its place and 
was locked once more. Priest, student, and damsel found 
themselves outside of the tower, tne wall of which closed 
with a thundering jar. Alas! the good padre had broken 
his fast too soon. 

When recovered from his surprise, the student would have 
reentered the tower, but learnt to his dismay that the damsel, 
in her fright, had let fall the seal of Solomon; it remained 
within the vault. 

In a word, the cathedral bell tolled midnight; the spell 

1 between Egypt and Arabia. 2 chicken. 3 drink. 



222 THE LEGEND OF THE ENCHANTED SOLDIER, 

was renewed; the soldier was doomed to mount guard for 
another hundred years ; and there he and the treasure remain 
to this day, and all because the kind-hearted padre kissed his 
handmaid. "Ah, father! father! " said the student, shaking 
his head ruefully, as they returned down the ravine, " I fear 
there was less of the saint than the sinner in that kiss! " 

Thus ends the legend as far as it has been authenticated/ 
There is a tradition, however, that the student had brought 
off treasure enough in his pocket to set him up in the world; 
that he prospered in his affairs, that the worthy padre gave 
him the pet lamb in marriage, by way of amends for the blun- 
der in the vault ; that the immaculate damsel proved a pattern 
for wives as she had been for handmaids, and bore her husband 
a numerous progeny. 

The story of the enchanted soldier remains one of the pop- 
ular traditions of Granada, though told in a variety of ways; 
the common people affirm that he still mounts guard on mid- 
summer-eve, beside the gigantic stone pomegranate on the 
bridge of the Darro, but remains invisible excepting to such 
lucky mortal as may possess the seal of Solomon. 

» established by proof. 



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By Lord Alfred Tennyson. 
7(Double). KENILWORTH, - - By Sir Walter Scott. 

8 (Single.) THE DEERSLAYER, By J. Fenimore Cooper. 

9 (Double). LADY OF THE LAKE, By Sir Walter Scott. 

10 (Single). SKETCHBOOK, - By Washington Irving. 

11 (Single). HORSE-SHOE ROBINSON, By John P. Kenre "y. 
13 HAROLD, - - ^ BySirE.LyttonBuiwer. 

Etc., Etc., Etc. 



The Golden-Rod Books 

Contain choice children's literature, selected and adapted from a wide 
range of well-known writers, and graded to supplement First, Second, 
Third, or Fourth Readers with reading of an interesting character. They 
are pictorially illustrated. The binding in boards is substantial and 
pleasing in style. The price is low. These are the titles : 

I. RHYMES AND FABLES, - - 64 pages, 1 2 cents. 
II. SONGS AND STORIES, - - 96 pages, 1 5 cents. 

III. FAIRY LIFE, --.__- 1 28 pages, 20 cents. 

IV. BALLADS AND TALES, - - 1 60 pages, 25 cents. 
On these and the Standard Literature Series special 

discounts to schools and dealers. 



Correspondence is invited. Address 

UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
43-47 E. lOth St., New York. 



